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: DECEMBER 10-16, 2003

The first meeting with Ilham Aliyev

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and his newly elected Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev met for the first time in Geneva on December 11, 2003.

Kocharyan said afterwards:

“It was an introductory meeting. We tried to analyze the current state of affairs in the negotiation process and recall what Armenia and Azerbaijan had discussed over the past few years. I am pleased with the level of frankness of our talks.”

Aliyev, elected as the new president on October 15, said:

“I have never participated in the negotiation process. I believe we have had a very useful exchange of opinions. We discussed agreements reached in the past, gave certain assessments. I think that the very fact of our today’s meeting is very positive, there is an element of continuity to it. I am certain that meetings between the leaders of the two countries will help reach a higher level of frankness. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan aspire to find a solution to Karabakh conflict.”

The farewell to Heydar Aliyev

Former President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev died at the age of 80 in a Cleveland clinic on December 12.

He had been under treatment in Turkey since July and was transferred to the United States in August. On October 2, the anchor at the public TV channel of Azerbaijan read out the message from Heydar Aliyev to the nation, in which he announced he was withdrawing his candidacy in favor of his son, Ilham Aliyev.

The coffin with the former president’s body was brought from Cleveland to Baku on December 14.

Heydar Aliyev’s coffin arrives to Baku airport

Photo: REUTERS

Heydar Aliyev was buried on the following day. Presidents of several countries attended his funeral: Vladimir Putin of Russia, Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and Ahmet Necdet Sezer of Turkey, as well as former and interim presidents of Georgia Eduard Shevarnadze and Nino Burjanadze respectively.

•    10 YEARS AGO: DECEMBER 10-16, 2008

“There are no amendments to Madrid principles”

There are no amendments to Madrid principles and all statements indicating the opposite do not correspond to the reality, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said on December 15. 

According to Nalbandian, individual technical proposals might be made during the talks on Karabakh conflict settlement, but they should not be considered changes or amendments to the principles proposed by the mediators.

Armenian opposition supports sanctions

On December 16, coordinator of the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Zurabyan spoke in favor of political sanctions against Armenian authorities by the Council of Europe.

Levon Zurabyan

Photo: Photolure

Zurabyan said he expected CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg to make a report that “adequately reflects the situation in Armenia”.

The ANC coordinator added they had sent letters to the members of PACE Monitoring Commission to present the stance of the Armenian opposition concerning the “extremely unsatisfactory implementation of PACE 1609 and 1620 resolutions by the Armenian authorities”.

•    5 YEARS AGO: DECEMBER 10-16, 2013

Davutoglu in Yerevan

On December 12, 2013 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian held a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, who arrived in Yerevan to attend the council of the foreign ministers of Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) member states.

Nalbandyan and Davutoglu in Yerevan on December 12, 2013

Photo: Photolure

The ministers made no statements after the meeting and did not speak with the press.

Ara Tadevosyan