Author: Emma Jilavian

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians took to the streets of Stepanakert in 1988 calling for reunification with Armenia

The Artsakh parliament issued a statement on Friday reaffirming the Artsakh people’s commitment to the principles that guided the movement, which began in February 1988.

Below is the text of the statement.

The developments in Artsakh which took place in February of 1988 fundamentally changed the future historical record of not only the indigenous Armenian people living there, but also of the peoples of the former Soviet Union.

Tens of thousands of people, using the liberal and democratic ideas declared in the USSR, were seeking through peaceful demonstrations in Stepanakert and other cities to restore historic justice: the unrealized dream of several generations to re-unite the Armenian province with Armenia.

From the very beginning, the growing pan-national movement adopted a conduct of solving the issue peacefully through legal and political ways, which received an irreversible confirmation on February 20, during the 20th extraordinary session of the former province’s supreme representative body, the Regional Council of People’s Deputies. The historic decision to withdraw the NKAO from the Azerbaijani SSR and re-unite it with the Armenian SSR signaled the new stage of the Artsakh national liberation struggle: the decisiveness of the people of Artsakh’s to advance the Karabakh movement through a civilized and legal path.

Regrettably, the leadership of the Azerbaijani SSR was incapable of using the exclusive chance of correctly resolving the issue and as a result the region appeared in a chain of lasting instability and Azerbaijan’s temptations to solve the issue militarily.

As a result of the February 20 decision which expressed the will and desire of the absolute majority of the region’s population, Artsakh rightly became the symbol of pride and national awakening for all Armenians. The wave of the Karabakh movement spread worldwide and as a result of the struggle organized by all segments of Armenians the two Armenian republics formed in the beginning of the 90s of the previous century. The Republic of Artsakh, proclaimed on September 2 of 1991 in line with international law and the requirements of national legislation, was a conscious milestone on the path towards a united Armenian state. Our people paid an immeasurably high price in the fight for Artsakh’s freedom and independence. Thousands of our sons sacrificed their lives during the wars of 1991-1994, 2016 and 2020.

Today, the Republic of Artsakh exists and continues its struggle to achieve international recognition thanks to the sacrifices of our brave heroes. We bow before their eternal memory,” reads the statement.

The statement says that during the last 34 years Artsakh passed a long path of establishment and development, victories and failures, and during this period the idea that the Armenian Artsakh’s future is guaranteed only in the prospects of living free and independent was strengthened.

Expressing the collective will and opinion of the people of Artsakh, the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh is reaffirming its dedication to the historic decision of February 20, 1988 and vows decisively to protect its right to live freely on its native land,” said the parliament resolution.

The National Assembly of Artsakh is drawing the attention of international organizations and first of all the parliaments of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries on the fact that the Armenian people of Artsakh for centuries struggled to preserve their identity, created material and cultural values which today are endangered as a result of the Azerbaijani occupation of several territories of the Republic of Artsakh.

We call on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to take immediate steps to re-launch the negotiations process in the direction of resolving the Karabakh conflict in line with the mandate received from the OSCE. Lasting peace and stability in the region can only be achieved through respecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of the Republic of Artsakh. For this very goal the Armenians of Artsakh began their liberation struggle in 1988 and stand ready to continue it with decisiveness to reach the final goal.

Eight Armenian POWs were released on Feb. 7 in an effort mediated by France and EU

Through a mediation effort from the European Union and France, Azerbaijan has released eight more prisoners of war who arrived in Armenia on Monday and were greeted at the airport by French and and European representatives in Armenia.

This latest release of POWs comes days after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev had a virtual meeting mediated by the President of the European Council Charles Michel and President Emanuel Macron of France on Friday.

French and EU representatives greet the POWs upon their return to Armenia

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry released the name of the eight prisoners of war. They are: Sargis Tarzyan, Vardges Balayan, Armen Petrosyan, Artur Babayan, Hmayak Sargsyan, Gurgen Galoyan, Grigor Kyureghyan and Vagharshak Maloyan.

Azerbaijan announced the release of eight POWs, saying that some of them were captured on November 16, when Azerbaijani forces attempted to invade Armenia.

Azerbaijani authorities reportedly have said that in exchange for the release of the POWS, Baku expects to receive information about Azerbaijani soldiers and civilians killed in the first Karabakh war and presumably buried in mass graves, as well as the location of these graves, News.am reported.

“Both in the first and the second Artsakh war, the Armenian side has missing persons. We attach importance to finding out the fate of the missing. In this sense, the Armenian side did not assume any unilateral obligations,” Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan told Azatutyun.am’s Armenian Service on Monday.

Armenian Investigative Committee’s spokesperson Vardan Tadevosyan announced that all returned POWs will be interrogated. This has become the norm for Armenia’s authorities, who have questioned all POWs who were captured during the November 16 military operations. Thus far, five POWs have been detained and are facing criminal charges for allegedly not carrying out their combat duties.

In Tweet on Monday, Macron thanked French diplomats and military officials who were involved in the process of returning the eight POWs from Azerbaijan.

“8 Armenian detainees were released by Azerbaijan and transferred from Baku to Yerevan. They were reunited with their families, from whom they had been separated for several months. Thanks to our diplomats, as well as our soldiers who were mobilized for this operation,” Macron tweeted.

The EU supports stability and prosperity in the region, Michel, the European Council president said in a tweet on Monday.

“The release by Azerbaijan and reparation [sic] to Armenia of 8 Armenian detainees is another sign of positive developments following the meeting with Emmanuel Macron, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan. The EU supports stability and prosperity in the region,” he said.

Javier Colomina, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs also tweeted a message on the POW release.

“It is indeed good news. NATO values our partnership with both Armenia and Azerbaijan , and supports the normalisation of their relations, which will contribute to increase stability and prosperity in the region,” Colomina said in this tweet.

Armenia wants to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without any preconditions, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Monday, indicating that the country might attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Speaking at a press conference, he said: “Our special representatives have met. If the process continues like this, it is highly possible that Armenia will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. It would be irrational to miss a chance to continue meetings.”

The Antalya Diplomacy Forum will be held on March 11-14 in Antalya province, under the motto “Recoding Diplomacy” and will be attended by several heads of states, ministers, academicians and members of the press.

The gathering, where the most important regional and global issues on the world's agenda will be discussed in a solution-oriented platform, will provide leaders, politicians, prominent academics, thinkers, opinion leaders, diplomats and business people an opportunity to discuss international issues from a diplomatic perspective.

After a 1 1/2 hour meeting recently in Moscow, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries published the same statement hailing the talks and agreeing to "continue negotiations without preconditions." Turkey aims for the next meeting to be held either in Turkey or Armenia, sources said.

Former Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kılıç was named as the Turkish special envoy on Dec. 15, 2021, to discuss steps toward normalization with neighboring Armenia. Three days later, Armenia appointed its special representative, deputy parliamentary speaker Ruben Rubinyan.

“In the past we have not been successful and we have to use this experience,” Pashinian said.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or commercial ties for three decades, and the talks are the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord. That deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense.

The neighbors are at odds over various issues, primarily the 1915 incidents and Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

With their borders closed to one another, Turkey and Armenia have no direct trade routes. Indirect trade has risen marginally since 2013 but was just $3.8 million (TL 51.2 million) in 2021, according to official Turkish data.

Relations between Armenia and Turkey have historically been complicated. Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that Armenians lost their lives in eastern Anatolia after some sided with the invading Russians and revolted against the Ottoman forces. The subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties, with massacres by militaries and militia groups from both sides increasing the death toll.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as “genocide” but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Pashinian also noted that the signing of a peace agreement with Azerbaijan is on the agenda.

“Such an agreement must be signed but this document has to be formed as a result of negotiations. Armenia is ready for these negotiations.”

Turkey has been putting heavy emphasis on creating enhanced cooperation and integration in the region following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Clashes erupted in September 2020 between the former Soviet republics when the Armenian Army launched attacks on Azerbaijani civilians and forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements. Turkey staunchly supported Azerbaijan in its fight.

During the 44-day conflict, which ended in a truce on Nov. 10, 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages in Nagorno-Karabakh from almost three decades of occupation.

The two countries also closely cooperate within the scope of the Organization of Turkic States and establish the 3+3 Caucasus platform, which envisages further integration and cooperation in the region.

Ankara has made frequent calls for a six-nation platform comprising of Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus.

The first meeting took place in Russia, without the participation of Georgia, which announced it would not take part in the next round, expected to take place in Turkey.

Dr. George Chilingarian

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) recently honored Professor George Chilingarian with the “Honorary Member” award at its annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. The conference was held on September 21 to 23, in Dubai, UAE.

The Honorary Membership award is the highest honor that SPE presents to an individual and is limited to 0.1 percent of SPE’s entire membership.  The award recognizes Professor Chilingarian’s 65 years of sustained and significant contributions in carbonate reservoir characterization, petroleum engineering, and petroleum geology education and mentoring

Professor George Chilingarian is also an SPE Legion Honoree, and recipient of SPE Distinguished Member award in 2019. 

SPE serves more than 160,000 members worldwide, sharing technical knowledge for the benefit of oil, gas, and geothermal industry. Each year, SPE presents several awards to recognize members whose efforts have advanced petroleum technology, as well as their professional achievements and contributions to the industry. These international awards winners are nominated by their colleagues and selected by their peers for their achievement and contributions. 

Dr. Chilingarian is an Armenian-American born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1929. He received his Bachelor’s Degree (1949) and Master’s Degree (1950) in Petroleum engineering, and his Ph.D. (1956) in Geology with a minor in Petroleum engineering at the University of Southern California. While he was working on his Ph.D. at USC, he spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, where he made scientific breakthroughs in aviation jet fuel storage in the shallow salt domes. This was very well received by the Air Force, where he was given the position of Chief of the Petroleum and Chemicals Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 

After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Professor Chilingarian returned to USC as faculty member. Chilingarian is a Professor Emeritus of Petroleum, Civil and Environmental Engineering at USC, where he taught several courses in Petroleum Engineering, Geology and Environmental engineering for over 65 years.  

Dr. Chilingarian is an internationally acclaimed ambassador in academia in general, and particularly in petroleum profession. His ability to venture into science and engineering with unique and unparalleled dexterity is extremely rare. One of Professor Chilingarian’s visions was to bridge the gap between engineers and geologists. For the last twenty years, even some of the most stubborn petroleum engineering companies have realized the potential of such interdisciplinary teamwork. 

Dr. Chilingarian had started to “marry” geology and petroleum engineering several decades prior to the “modern-day fad” for interdisciplinary projects. The record of his efforts clearly show that he has accomplished this vision. He was also the recipient of the SPE Distinguish Member Award in 2019.  

Dr Chilingarian is the author and/or co-author of 75 books and more than 500 publications. As one colleague stated: “George has written more books than most people have read. He has more trophies in his home than Heritage Hall, and he speaks more languages than anyone I know.” 

That is the essence of Dr. Chilingarian’s long and illustrious career. Many of Professor Chilingarian’s former students are now serving as CEOs and executives of large petroleum companies in the USA, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, India, Mexico, and Brazil. Dr Chilingarian’s technical findings resulted in the discovery of an oilfield in the Middle East in Asmari Limestone of Iran, which was named after him “Chilingar.” 

In 2008, Dr. Chilingarian was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Viterbi School of Engineering at USC. He is an Academician, USC International Ambassador; Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Founder & Past President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences USA Branch; Honorary Professor of Gubkin University, Russia; and Honorary Consul of Honduras in Los Angeles, for several years.

Dr. Chilingarian is the recipient of over 100 medals, awards, and diplomas from various governments, universities, and organizations, including Lomonosov’s medal of Russian Academy of Sciences: Order of Homayun Gold Medal from the late Shah of Iran, and White Elephant Medal from King of Thailand. In 2019, he received SPE’s Distinguish Member Award.