Author: Hovik Karapetian

Turkey to Turn Armenian Church into ‘Humor Art Center’

Hovik Karapetian
Breitbart
Jan 1 2021
78 TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP/File Mustafa Kamaci

Frances Martel

1 Jan 202157


The local government in south-central Konya, Turkey, announced this week that it would turn a fully renovated 19th-century Armenian church into a “humor art house” after barring worshippers from using the church for years, multiple reports revealed Thursday.

Under Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish government has aggressively targeted its Christian minority community and attempted to erase Christian heritage in the country. Erdogan’s most prominent attempt to erase the Christian history of Turkey occurred last year, when he converted the Hagia Sophia, one of Byzantine Christianity’s most important architectural facilities, into a mosque. The conversion process involved removing or covering up priceless Christian art in the former basilica.

Erdogan — who, like all Turkish leaders, denies the 1915 genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks by Turkey occurred — has also escalated aggression against both ethnic Armenians within Turkey and the nation of Armenia. In September, after fighting erupted between Armenian and Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, Erdogan’s government reportedly recruited thousands of battle-hardened Syrian mercenaries to fight in the Caucasus war theater. Erdogan attended a “victory parade” in Baku in December alongside Azeri President Ilham Aliyev to celebrate the expulsion of the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the Stockholm Center for Freedom, a news organization founded by dissident Turkish journalists, the Surp Yerrortutyun (Holy Trinity) Armenian church was built in 1859 and boasts an official cultural heritage site designation in Turkey. The Turkish government reportedly used the church’s location — the hometown of a medieval Turkish “satirist” — as reason to renovate the church, turning it into the “World’s Masters of Humor Art House” and the hub of a greater “humor village.” The government has not yet announced a reopening date for the venue.

“Restoration” of the church cost about half a million dollars and ended in 2017, but Turkish officials did nothing with the venue until now and did not allow Christians to pray in it.

It is not clear at press time how many Christians live in the area; the Stockholm Center noted an estimated 5,000 Armenians lived in the vicinity around the church historically, prior to the 1915 genocide. PanArmenian.net, a news site that caters to the Armenian community, noted in its report on the Holy Trinity church that, prior to the genocide, “there were four other Armenian educational institutions in the district. Among them, the Surp Stepanos School was famous in all provinces for its superior education quality.”

International Christian Concern, a faith-based human rights organization, condemned the Turkish government on Thursday for its repurposing of the house of worship.

“The 1915 genocide nearly eliminated the Armenian Christian population from Turkey. Since then, Turkey has taken control over most of the abandoned churches and other Armenian cultural sites,” the group said in a statement. “Turkey does not acknowledge the genocide, and has not made any attempts to restore these churches back to their original Christian community.”

“Instead, Turkey either converts these churches into mosques or restores their buildings into faith tourism sites. When pursuing the later option, Turkey uses it as an example to the international arena about how they care for religious freedom,” the statement concluded, adding that turning churches into tourism sites complicates Christians’ ability to worship there.

The Armenian Genocide is estimated to have killed 1.5 million of the 2 million Armenians estimated to have been alive at the time.

Erdogan has repeatedly denied the genocide happened and his officials have taken several recent opportunities to threaten the descendants of the few Armenians Turkey did not kill during that atrocity. In July, for example, the Turkish government — a U.S. ally through NATO — offered Azerbaijan advanced military technology to attack Armenia.

“Our armed unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition and missiles with our experience, technology, and capabilities are at Azerbaijan’s service,” İsmail Demir, the head of Presidency of Defense Industries, a government-related entity, said in July.

Demir made his offer after the Azeri defense ministry threatened to bomb Armenia’s Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, a Soviet relic widely considered the world’s most dangerous nuclear plant.

“The Armenian side must not forget that our army’s state-of-the-art missile systems allow us to strike the Metsamor nuclear plant with precision, which could lead to a great catastrophe for Armenia,” Vagif Dargahli, a Defense Ministry spokesman, said the same week Turkey offered Azerbaijan missiles.

In September, fighting erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh. The region, which Armenians refer to as Artsakh, is a historic, indigenous Armenian territory given to the Azeri Soviet Socialist Republic under Joseph Stalin. While technically within Azerbaijan’s borders, it had been ruled by an ethnic Armenian separatist government since the fall of the Soviet Union. The state of Armenia does not recognize Artsakh as a sovereign state.

Both sides claimed the other triggered the fighting this year. The Artsakh government, and the Armenian government, accused the Azeris of committing several human rights violations in battle, including beheading civilians and targeting maternity hospitals. Turkey offered military aid to Azerbaijan but did not formally send Turkish troops to the region. Armenian government officials estimated, however, that Turkey sent as many as 4,000 Syrian mercenary jihadists into Nagorno-Karabakh to attack the Christian-majority ethnic Armenians there.

The fighting ended with a peace treaty that gave Azerbaijan not just control of Nagorno-Karabakh, but power over sovereign Armenian territory, prompting widespread protests in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

The Azeris organized a “victory parade” following the peace deal, inviting Erdogan. Speaking at the event, Erdogan threatened the Armenian people once more.

“Azerbaijan’s saving its lands from occupation does not mean that the struggle is over,” Erdogan said. “The struggle carried out in the political and military areas will continue from now on many other fronts.”


TURKISH press: ANALYSIS – EU and Upper-Karabakh: Recurrent mistakes

Hovik Karapetian
Deniz Ünsal   |28.12.2020

*The author is an alumnus of Trinity College Dublin, specialized in Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International and Comparative Law. His main focus areas are Turkey-EU relations, Eastern Mediterranean and contemporary debates in Turkish foreign policy. He has a special interest in public international law, EU law and Late-Ottoman Era legal-political developments.

ISTANBUL 

Although 2020 will definitely be remembered as a tough and unprecedented year, Azerbaijan’s legendary victory over Armenia in Upper-Karabakh was not overshadowed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the Upper-Karabakh Ceasefire Agreement is not just an ordinary border agreement, yet it will also be marked as a manifestation of the reality that even the most complicated “frozen conflicts” can be resolved through diplomacy and/or use of military force.

Nevertheless, there are a number of actors that have underestimated the peaceful settlement of the Upper-Karabakh Conflict and are aiming to downplay Azerbaijan’s technological superiority by ignoring Turkey’s inclusion as a “game-changer” in the conflict. Unfortunately, the European Union (EU) is one of them. For instance, the EU top diplomat Josep Borrell’s recent statements on the possibility of the troop deployment of the EU in the region demonstrate how the Union is devoid of rational policymaking. Having perplexed by the decades-old delusions that emanated from Armenian claims, Borrell said that the EU will not deploy troops on the ground and will not do what Turkey did. Actually Borrell’s attitude could not hide the EU’s estrangement from its long-term objectives aiming to consolidate the EU’s position as a farsighted and credible actor.

With all due respect, even if the EU’s reluctance to intervene in a conflict in the South Caucasus can be understood under its diligence to remain a global soft-power, Borrell’s remarks on Turkey are unacceptable. After these mind-boggling remarks, Resolution 1597 adopted by the Belgian House of Representatives on Upper-Karabakh on Dec. 18 has also proved Belgian politics’ narrow-mindedness apparently caused by one-sided Armenian narratives. Meanwhile, the Belgian parliament’s reference to the events of 1915 constitutes a clear resemblance to the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s baseless remarks, alleging that the Turkish-Azerbaijani operations in Upper-Karabakh were a continuation of the so-called “Armenian genocide”. It is saddening to observe that many Belgian parliamentarians pay so much attention to a defeated prime minister, who is being strongly criticized even by his own people. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Belgian House of Representatives has been taken hostage by “narrow interests catering to domestic politics.” 

What did Turkey do?

Ankara-based political analyst Ali Bakeer is of the opinion that “the outcome of the conflict and the constant Turkish political position in supporting Azerbaijan, not to mention the role of Ankara-made drones, show that Turkey is becoming stronger in the Caucasus ”. Bakeer’s approach is quite plausible because Turkey’s contributions to the settlement of the Upper-Karabakh conflict are versatile. Principally, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan summarized the newly established political order in the region: “Karabakh is no longer a frozen conflict, it now signifies a glorious victory”.

While evaluating Turkish achievements in the region, Azerbaijan’s decisiveness and rational policymaking under the administration of President Ilham Aliyev ought to be praised first. Unlike Yerevan, Baku has a well-rounded understanding of the nature of post-Cold War conflicts. Recalling the “Joint Vision 2020” report (2000) of the Pentagon, wars in the 21st century have long been foreseen as “network-centric wars” by the United States. According to this report, the American military strategy has to be based on “Full Spectrum Dominance” in space, high seas, air and information technologies. Apparently, Azerbaijan has had a certain perception of these expectations. Dr. Can Kasapoglu from Istanbul-centered think-tank EDAM thinks that besides diversifying her military arsenal, Azerbaijan also improved her military doctrine and military science knowledge. Moreover, apart from the fraternal solidarity between Turkey and Azerbaijan, burgeoning Turkish dronization trends in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces showed the vulnerability of traditional warfare, according to Kasapoglu. Kasapoglu summarizes these trends as a transfer of a complete robotic warfare doctrine and concept of operations to Azerbaijan. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the side which used the terrorist PKK and its regional affiliates on the front lines, namely Armenia, lost the war. This war, once again, proved that drawing on terrorism cannot be a choice for an independent state. Now, thanks to the Turkish aspirations to consolidate the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, “Karabakh is no longer a frozen conflict”.

In his renowned book On War, the German war theorist Carl von Clausewitz asserts that “war is simply the continuation of political intercourse with the addition of other means.” Although his state-centric arguments have been opposed and proved wrong quite a few times, they are still valid in many cases. In the Karabakh example, President Aliyev was of the view that peace can only be achieved by ending the Armenian occupation and cannot be ensured without Turkey. Under these principles, the possibility of a military intervention was surely on the table and was considered as the last resort to regain the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Thus, the determination of Azerbaijan and Turkey to carry out military operations in the region, once again, proved the Clausewitzian paradigm. These two countries continued to insist on a peaceful and law-abiding settlement of the conflict -as a political prerequisite- while military operations were successfully conducted on the field. Eventually, Azerbaijan’s use of her right to self-defense complemented her political and diplomatic objectives.

Turkey, Azerbaijan and European security: Need for updated EU policy

Recently, by safeguarding the narrow-minded interests of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo, the EU has shown restraint in calling for the security of “European borders”. The ongoing refugee crisis between Turkey and Greece is a clear example of this. The EU is obviously faced with a serious dilemma, underlining, on the one hand, its priorities as maintaining European security and protecting “European borders”, and on the other hand, avoiding a direct involvement in the preservation of peace in such a critical region dominated by non-EU-member European actors. Meanwhile, downplaying and criticizing/condemning Turkish achievements in Upper-Karabakh will certainly deepen this dilemma.

Before the settlement, the EU tacitly promoted inconclusiveness and ambivalence in Upper-Karabakh by turning a blind eye to Armenian brutality in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. However, in the absence of a common will with regard to the Upper-Karabakh conflict among the EU member states, the EU’s active neutrality policy in favor of Armenian “postponement diplomacy” has failed. The EU’s appeasing attitude towards Armenia’s well-known offensive mentality, which was once again solidified with the Belgian Parliament’s unfortunate resolution, is even more puzzling. Overall, the EU showed no intention to manage the Upper-Karabakh conflict in a proper and decisive manner. Now, the Union stands merely as a “passive observer”.

The EU’s top diplomat’s latest statement is a manifestation of this consequence: the EU leadership is seemingly committed to remain a passive observer.

In light of these circumstances, the need for an updated EU policy is evident. First of all, there are convincing reasons for the EU to take the view that Turkey is an undisputed game-changer and peace-broker in this conflict. Secondly, there are also convincing reasons for the EU to believe that Turkey’s moves have changed the “game” in favor of European and Western interests by creating a counterweight to Russia with Azerbaijan. Thirdly, Turkey has good neighborly and multifaceted relations with the countries in the region. In a political atmosphere where the EU is concerned about the Russian resurgence and where Turkey is welcoming the Union’s policies to build partnerships with the countries in the Caucasus, the EU should prioritize updating its ill-fated stance towards Turkey. Unless the Union changes its rhetoric on Turkey and the Turkish military presence, the tilting of the Russian dominance in the South Caucasus will merely remain a forlorn hope.

**Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu Agency.




Armenia records lowest inflation among EAEU states

Hovik Karapetian

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 09:09, 23 December, 2020

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has registered the lowest price increase among the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in October 2020: the prices compared to December 2019 declined by 1%, whereas compared to October 2019 the prices increased by 1.3%, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) reports.

The prices of goods and services in all EAEU states have increased by 3.6% in October 2020 compared to December 2019, and by 4.5% compared to October.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 16-12-20

Hovik Karapetian

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 17:21, 16 December, 2020

YEREVAN, 16 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 16 December, USD exchange rate down by 0.19 drams to 524.90 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.29 drams to 640.64 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 7.16 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 9.93 drams to 709.51 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 317.89 drams to 31231.43 drams. Silver price up by 5.93 drams to 408.65 drams. Platinum price down by 6.27 drams to 17331.58 drams.

Art: Art Auction Hopes to Help Relief Efforts in Artsakh

Hovik Karapetian
Hyperallergic
Dec 17 2020
 
 
Art Auction Hopes to Help Relief Efforts in Artsakh

Sixty artists from around the world are participating in this auction to benefit refugees who have fled the takeover of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijani forces.
<img src=”"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c34b98e88bb8dfcbcbfe77a7075daf8a?s=80&d=mm&r=x" width="80" height="80" alt="Avatar" class="avatar avatar-80 wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar-80 photo avatar-default"> by Hakim Bishara
A work available in Protect ARTsakh, an online auction to raise humanitarian aid for Armenians displaced following attacks led by Azerbaijani forces. Pictured: Alisha Sofia, "T’aguhi" (2019), Ground pigments from rock sediments, gouache, sumi ink on teas dyed paper, 41.7 x 59.8 inches (courtesy the artist and Protect ARTsakh)

An online art auction is raising humanitarian aid for thousands of war-stricken Armenian families who had been displaced from the region of Artsakh (otherwise known as Nagorno-Karabakh) following attacks led by Azerbaijani forces, with backing from Turkey as well as Syrian Islamist mercenaries.  

A Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 9 marked the beginning of a mass migration of the majority of ethnic Armenians in Artsakh to neighboring Armenia. Over 100,000 out of the 150,000 Armenians in Artsakh had been forced to flee the region, leaving many of them homeless, food-insecure, and exposed to Armenia’s punishing winter weather.

The auction, titled Protect ARTsakh, presents 78 lots by 60 multidisciplinary artists from Armenia and around the world. The featured works range from paintings and photography to textile and jewelry. The auction will continue until December 20.

Artists include the participants of Armenia’s Golden Lion-winning Pavilion for Best National Participation at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015: Mikayel Ohanjanyan (Armenia); Aikaterini Gegisian (Greece); Hrair Sarkissian (Syria); Rosana Palazyan (Brazil); Silvina Der Meguerditchian (Argentina); and Aram Jibilian (USA). 

Other participants include French artist Lionel Esteve, Iranian artist Arghavan Khosravi, and American artists Adam Parker Smith and Bailey Scieszka, among others. 

Organized by Lara Arslanian, Garabed Bardakjian, and Sarine Semerjian, with support from the Arslanian Foundation, the auction aims to assist the ongoing humanitarian relief efforts directed towards Artsakh’s Armenian refugees. The organizers also hope to raise awareness of the dire situation in Armenia and Artsakh, which are still subjected to Azeri attacks in violation of the ceasefire. 

“The story of Armenians is one of survival and resilience, punctuated by terrible tragedies but also great triumphs spanning over their 3,500 years of history,” the auction’s website says. “By offering a unique selection of works highlighting unique talents of artists from Armenia and beyond, we wish to highlight the vibrant Armenian art scene but also elevate artists from around the world using their talents to give a voice to the voiceless.”

 

Aliyev accuses Minsk Group of playing no role in Karabakh conflict settlement, says he had not invited Co-Chairs to Baku

Hovik Karapetian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 12 2020

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs of playing no role in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict as he received the French and US Co-Chairs Stephane Visconti and Andrew Schofer.

Unfortunately, he said, “the Minsk Group did not play any role in the resolution of the conflict, though it had a mandate to do it for 28 years.”

“I participated in negotiations for the last 17 years. Although the Minsk Group was elaborating ideas and trying to be creative, there was no result,” Aliyev stated.

Aliyev also said that the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Baku was their own initiative, he had not invited them.

“It was your idea to come. I can tell you again in front of the cameras, I did not invite the Minsk Group to come. But when I was informed that the Minsk Group wants to come, I said okay, I don’t mind, maybe they have something to tell me,” Aliyev said.

The reception was also attended by Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. The Russian Ambassador said the Russian government has always noted the importance of the Minsk Group. “That’s why, we participated and today we are participating in this group,” he said.


CivilNet: Trauma on My Street

Hovik Karapetian
CIVILNET.AM

09:18

By Dr. Lilit Keshishyan

About ten years ago, a woman making a three point turn in my driveway, accidentally put the gear on drive instead of reverse and crashed into my parked car. I heard the loud boom, ran outside, and was overcome with the loudest screams I have heard in my life. The woman was wailing at the top of her lungs. I thought that maybe a child was hurt in the car, but that wasn’t the case. Her friend, now safely standing outside beside her, explained that the driver had recently arrived as a refugee from the war in Iraq and the crash may have triggered a PTSD response.

There was no consoling her. Eventually, after taking some forced drinks of water, she mentioned that she had registered the car that day and refused to talk further. This woman, a descendant of Armenian genocide survivors, a survivor of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, looking toward her future in her shiny used Integra, was violently reminded of her past by a minor car accident.

She still lives on my street. Every time I see her I remember her wailing scream. I remember Iraq. We exchange pleasantries.

Recent and intergenerational trauma live on my small street in South Glendale. Iraq lives on my street, Syria lives on my street, Iran lives on my street, Artsakh and Armenia live on my street, Mexico lives on my street, Vietnam, Thailand, Palestine, live on my street. Violent geo-political histories produced the makeup of my street.

America is full of these streets, replete with trauma and love, past and present. Wars, in their many forms, might happen far away, but their consequences are here. They make up the foundations of our society, whether we like it or not.

Studies of diplomacy, humanitarianism, diaspora, and immigration are often contemplated in the abstract. You can’t hear the wails when you read. You can’t hear the wails in the halls of important buildings where politicians and diplomats impact peoples’ fates, whether through action or inaction. The wails are there, nonetheless.

In relatively peaceful times, it’s easier to process diaspora and its manifestations in the conceptual or abstract. The simultaneity of the past and present that makes up diasporic consciousness is lived subconsciously, and while it in many ways has defined us, it hasn’t always been a glaring presence.The 45 day war and its aftermath shattered this relative calm.

The brutality of this war, the blatant and continuous human rights violations by the Azeris, Turks, and mercenaries, the threat of erasure, the loss of sacred lands, and the massive displacement of the people of Artsakh, have made the presence of Artsakh and Armenia in our lives ever present. The soldiers and civilians of Artsakh, the “tatik-papik” sculpture, the Cathedral of Ghazanchetsots, Dadivank Monastery, majestic Tigranakert, and other historic and cultural spaces are now more than symbols of resilience but are real people and places. The past and the present collided and awakened a stark reality. This reality engendered the rapid and unprecedented mobilization of a relatively unorganized diaspora and a reevaluation of the state of Armenian institutions both in and outside the homeland.

Sustaining this mobilization is a challenge we now face and must embrace.

In the Diaspora, we feel guilt for not being in Armenia during these trying times but guilt, in and of itself, is futile and, as a driving force for mobilization, might unfortunately wane over time.

Since the start of the war, every time I read, hear, watch, think about Armenia, Artsakh, our people, our soldiers, and our lands, I hear the deafening wail of my Iraqi-Armenian-American neighbor.

Because no one else does, we must hear those deafening wails and transform guilt into agency. Our voices, pockets, expertise, and streets must be used strategically, not to apologize for where we currently live, but to help Armenia assure the future of those currently displaced and to prevent future displacement.

I hope we’ve started.

This piece is part of the Voices on Karabakh collection where a select group of scholars, intellectuals, and artists contribute observations on the war in and for Karabakh. It's an attempt to make sense of this time and this region.

Is Armenia about to become part of Russia so it doesn’t get betrayed again?

Hovik Karapetian
EU Repórter
Dec 9 2020
December 9, 2020

By Guest contributor

There is now peace in Nagorno-Karabakh. Can either of the warring sides be considered a victor – most certainly not. But if we look at controlled territories before and after the conflict, there is clear a loser – Armenia. This is also confirmed by the dissatisfaction expressed by the Armenian people. However, objectively speaking the peace deal can be considered Armenia’s “success” story, writes Zintis Znotiņš.

No one, especially Armenia and Azerbaijan, believes that the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has been resolved completely and forever. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has invited Russia to expand military co-operation. “We hope to expand not only security cooperation, but military-technical cooperation as well. Times were difficult before the war, and now the situation is even more severe,” Pashinyan told the press after meeting with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu in Yerevan.1

Pashinyan’ words made me think. Russia and Armenia are already cooperating on multiple platforms. We should remember that after the collapse of the USSR Armenia became the only post-Soviet country – Russia’s only ally in Transcaucasia. And for Armenia Russia is not merely a partner, because Armenia sees Russia as its strategic ally that has significantly helped Armenia on numerous economic and security matters.2

This co-operation has also been established officially on the highest level, i.e. in the form of the CSTO and CIS. More than 250 bilateral agreements have been signed between both countries, including the Treaty on Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance.3 This poses a logical question – how do you strengthen something that has already been established on the highest level?

Reading between the lines of Pashinyan’s statements, it’s clear that Armenia wants to prepare its revenge and requires additional support from Russia. One of the ways of strengthening military co-operation is to purchase armaments from one another. Russia has always been the largest provider of weapons for Armenia. Moreover, in 2020 Pashinyan criticized former president Serzh Sargsyan for spending $42 million on metal scraps, instead of weapons and equipment.4 This means that the Armenian people have already witnessed their “strategic ally” betray them regarding armaments deliveries and participation in different organizations.

If Armenia was already doing worse than Azerbaijan before the conflict, it would be unreasonable to assume that Armenia will now become richer are able to afford better armaments.

If we compare their armed forces, Azerbaijan has always had more weapons. What concerns the quality of these weapons, Azerbaijan is again a few steps ahead of Armenia. Additionally, Azerbaijan also has equipment produced by countries other than Russia.

Therefore, it’s unlikely that Armenia will be able to afford enough modern weapons in the next decade to stand against Azerbaijan, which will also likely continue modernizing its armed forces.

Equipment and weapons are important, but human resources are what really matters. Armenia has a population of roughly three million, while Azerbaijan is home to ten million people. If we look at how many of them are fit for military service, the numbers are 1.4 million for Armenia and 3.8 million for Azerbaijan. There are 45,000 soldiers in the Armenian Armed Forces and 131,000 in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. What concerns the number of reservists, Armenia has 200,000 of them and Azerbaijan has 850,000.5

This means that even if something miraculous happens and Armenia acquires a sufficient amount of modern equipment, it still has fewer people. If only…

Let’s talk about the “if only”.

What does Pashinyan mean by saying: “We hope to expand not only security cooperation, but military-technical cooperation as well?” As we know, Armenia doesn’t have the money to purchase any armaments. Moreover, all the previous forms of cooperation and integration have been insufficient for Russia to really wish to solve Armenia’s problems.

The recent events prove that Armenia gains nothing from being a part of the CSTO or the CIS. From this point of view, Armenia’s only solution is tighter integration with Russia so that the armed forces of Armenia and Russia are a single entity. This would be possible only if Armenia were to become Russia’s subject, or if they decide to establish a union state.

In order to establish a union state, the position of Belarus must be taken into account. After the recent events, Lukashenko has most likely agreed with all of Putin’s demands. Armenia’s geographic location would benefit Moscow, and we know that if there’s another country between two parts of Russia, it’s only a matter of time until this country loses its independence. This, of course, doesn’t concern countries that join NATO.

It’s difficult to predict how Armenians would welcome such a turn of events. They would surely be happy to defeat Azerbaijan and regain Nagorno-Karabakh, but would they be happy if Armenia returned to the Kremlin’s gentle embrace? One thing is certain – if this happens, Georgia and Azerbaijan must strengthen their armed forces and consider joining NATO.

1 https://www.delfi.lv/news/arzemes/pasinjans-pec-sagraves-kara-grib-vairak-militari-tuvinaties-krievijai.d?id=52687527

2 https://ru.armeniasputnik.am/trend/russia-armenia-sotrudnichestvo/

3 https://www.mfa.am/ru/bilateral-relations/ru

4 https://minval.az/news/123969164?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=3c1fa3a58496fb586b369317ac2a8b8d08b904c8-1606307230-0-AeV9H0lgZJoxaNLLL-LsWbQCmj2fwaDsHfNxI1A_aVcfay0gJ6ddLg9-JZcdY2hZux09Z42iH_62VgGlAJlpV7sZjmrbfNfTzU8fjrQHv1xKwIWRzYpKhzJbmbuQbHqP3wtY2aeEfLRj6C9xMnDJKJfK40Mfi4iIsGdi9Euxe4ZbRZJmeQtK1cn0PAfY_HcspvrobE_xnWpHV15RMKhxtDwfXa7txsdiaCEdEyvO1ly6xzUfyKjX23lHbZyipnDFZg519aOsOID-NRKJr6oG4QPsxKToi1aNmiReSQL6c-c2bO_xwcDDNpoQjFLMlLBiV-KyUU6j8OrMFtSzGJat0LsXWWy1gfUVeazH8jO57V07njRXfNLz661GQ2hkGacjHA

5 https://www.gazeta.ru/army/2020/09/28/13271497.shtml?updated

The views expressed in the above article are those of the author alone, and do not reflect any opinions on the part of EU Reporter.

ANN/Armenian News – Week in Review – 12/06/2020

Hovik Karapetian

Armenian News Network / Armenian News

Armenian News: Week in Review

ANN/Armenian News

December 6, 2020

Guests

  • Varuzhan Geghamyan

  • Asbed Kotchikian

  • Hovik Manucharyan

  • Asbed Bedrossian

Hello, and welcome to the Armenian News Network, Armenian News, Week in Review for Sunday December 6, 2020. Today we’ll be talking to our guests about the following major topics:

  • Turkey and Azerbaijan Connecting

  • Armenia’s Political Opposition Uniting

  • Support from Russia

  • Robert Kocharyan Interview

To talk about these issues, we have with us:

Varuzhan Geghamyan, who is an assistant professor at Yerevan State University and teaches on Turkey’s modern history and the history of Azerbaijan.

and

Asbed Kotchikian, a senior lecturer of political science and international relations at Bentley University in Massachusetts where he teaches courses on the Middle East and former Soviet space.

This episode was recorded on Sunday, December 6.

In The Statement of November 10, it looked like Point 9 was a late addition which Turkey and Azerbaijan decided that, in a moment when Armenia was at a gunpoint and out of options, they would throw in everything and the kitchen sink in the agreement. It reads:

  • All economic activity and transport links in the region are to be unrestricted. The Republic of Armenia guarantees the safety of transport links between western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to organize the unimpeded movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions. Transport control is carried out by the bodies of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia. By agreement of the Parties, the construction of new infrastructure linking the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with regions of Azerbaijan is to take place.

What are the goals of this point?

Since the signing of The Statement which ended hostilities in Artsakh on November 9, the political environment in Yerevan has been in turmoil.

A hodge-podge of 17+ political parties, calling itself “The Salvation of Motherland Movement”, has called for PM Pashinyan’s resignation and has put forward the veteran politician Vazgen Manukyan as its candidate for interim PM. On Saturday, December 5, this alliance held its largest protest yet in 4 weeks numbering about 20 thousand people. 

Meanwhile Edmond Marukyan of the Bright Armenia party also announced his own candidacy for the same position. 

The position however is not vacant. Pashinyan has refused to comply with the calls for resignation and the government has only made cosmetic changes by reshuffling the cabinet, and advisors.

Where do we see these developments heading? What are some of the key points in the statements made by the opposition representatives including Vazgen Manukyan

On December 2, Russian president Putin chaired a virtual summit of the CSTO. Announcing that Armenia’s leader had to make “painful but necessary concessions” Putin said that it was up to CSTO leaders to “support the prime minister as well as his team in their efforts to establish peace, achieve the implementation of all of the decisions made, and assist people who found themselves in very difficult life situations."

At the same time there were reports of wealthy Russian diasporans calling for his resignation, including Ruben Vardanyan and Samvel Karapetyan.

Can this statement be viewed as an endorsement of Pashinyan by Moscow? What are the implications of such an announcement on Armenia’s internal political scene and the continuation of Pashinyan as PM?

Meanwhile former President Robert Kocharyan gave an expensive interview on Friday. What are some of the key points that stood out in that interview?

  • ՀՀ 2-րդ նախագահ Ռոբերտ Քոչարյանի հարցազրույցը` «5-րդ ալիքին» (տեսանյութ)

Some points from the interview:

  • SU-30 purchase decision explicitly made by PM, despite counter-recommendations from the military. The PM thought they were “more impressive” than the TOR systems. Also, the SU-30’s did not come with the required missiles for engagement because the missiles were not exportable by Russia.

  • There were multiple occasions during the war – from the 4th day on until the end – when Putin said there was an opportunity to end the war, and the PM missed it.

  • Vitaly Balasanyan requested to take over the leadership of the southern front, but was denied.

  • Mentioning Saddam Hussein as the only modern leader who hung on to power after losing a war, and then going on to being hung after his capture.

  • Mentioned deeper integration with Russia, particularly in the area of defense.

  • Mentioned that the July fighting was provoked by Armenia.

  • In the context of Armenian-Russian relations, RK mentioned that several months before the war a new head of national security was appointed whose task was to flush out the pro-Russian elements from Armenia’s government. (He was most likely referring to Argishti Kyaramyan, who was appointed to that position in June 2020. –Armenian News note)

  • He promised to be involved in rebuilding of Armenia saying: «անմաս չեմ մնալու անկասկած». What do you think this means?

That concludes our program for This week’s Armenian News Week in Review. We hope it has helped you understand some of the current issues. We look forward to your feedback, and even your suggestions for issues to cover in greater depth. Contact us on our website, at groong.org, or on our Facebook Page “ANN – Armenian News”, or in our Facebook Group “Armenian News – Armenian News  Network”.

Special thanks to Laura Osborn for providing the music for our podcast. I’m Hovik Manucharyan, and on behalf of everyone in this episode, I wish you a good week. Thank you for listening and we’ll talk to you next week.

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Armenia, Karabakh, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Putin, Varuzhan Geghamyan

Additional: Asbed Kotchikian, Russia, Ceasefire, Aliyev, Pashinyan, Robert Kocharyan, Goble Plan, SU-30, Artsakh War, Karabakh War, Transportation Corridors, Meghri, Syunik, Sotk, Berdzor, Stepanakert, Salvation of Motherland Movement, Edmon Marukyan, Bright Armenia, Vazgen Manukyan, Resignation, Martial Law,