Noah’s Ark, brandy, Kardashians: things to know about Armenia

YEREVAN (AFP) – Armenia on Sunday holds snap parliamentary polls that the reformist Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called to defuse a political crisis sparked by last year s military defeat to arch-foe Azerbaijan.

Here are five things to know about the troubled history and ancient culture of the landlocked country in the South Caucasus.

National humiliation

Armenia last year fought a six-week war with Azerbaijan for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The hostilities, which claimed about 6,000 lives, ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swathes of territories it had controlled for decades to Azerbaijan.

Russia deployed 2,000 peacekeepers to the mountainous region, cementing its influence over ex-Soviet Armenia, whose security largely depends on Moscow s military and diplomatic backing.

Armenians saw the agreement as a humiliation and stormed the main government building in protest. Prime Minister Pashinyan called polls Sunday to defuse the political crisis.

Great Crime

When World War I broke out in 1914, Armenia, which for most of its history has been controlled by foreign powers, was divided between the Ottoman and Russian Empires.

During the war, Ottomans massacred and deported more than 1.5 million Armenians, who dubbed this most tragic event in their history as Meds Yeghern, or the Great Crime.

Armenia has long sought international recognition of the bloodletting as genocide — a claim fiercely rejected by Turkey but supported by many other countries, most recently by the US under President Joe Biden in April.

Star-studded diaspora

The Armenian diaspora that spread across the world in the wake of the 1915 massacres is now vast — estimated at around eight to 10 million people — some of them the most famous in the world.

Social media superstar Kim Kardashian, the late singer Charles Aznavour, Hollywood s Cher and France s football World Cup-winning striker Youri Djorkaeff all have Armenian roots.

The politically influential diaspora is strongest in Russia (1.5 million), followed by the United States (1.3 million) and France (400,000).

Some have appointed themselves unofficial ambassadors of Armenian causes, like Kardashian, who has been outspoken on the issue of the genocide.

Armenia s economy has struggled since the Soviet collapse and money sent home by Armenians abroad has aided the construction of schools, churches and other infrastructure projects, including in Nagorno-Karabakh.

First Christian country

In the fourth century, Armenia became the first country in the world to officially embrace Christianity — two decades ahead of the Roman Empire.

The Bible was translated into the Armenian language in the fifth century.

Armenia s preeminent cultural institution, the Matenadaran museum, houses the country s national treasures — the vast collection of ancient manuscripts that cover almost every sphere of Armenia s ancient and medieval science and culture.

Written in the distinctive Armenian alphabet created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, the collection was added to UNESCO s list of protected documents in 1997.

National symbols

Armenia is an ancient biblical land where the Book of Genesis says Noah s Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat after the Great Deluge.

Now inside Turkey, Mount Ararat is regarded by Armenians as a national symbol and features on the country s coat of arms and banknotes.

Another national symbol is "Armenian cognac" — a brandy distilled from the abundant vine varieties cultivated in the fertile Ararat valley.