Category: 2023

Earthquake: rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia?

Antranik Varosian
Feb 16 2023

Armenian disaster relief workers are helping out in the areas hit by the earthquake in Turkey. In addition, the Armenian foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, visited his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu just a few days after the border between the two states, which had been blocked for decades, was opened for an aid convoy. Commentators see a chance to overcome the hostilities between the two countries.


Murat Sabuncu, former editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, sees a positive impact on bilateral relations. He writes in T24:

“Today's solidarity is unforgettable, and the solidarity now being shown by Armenia will have an important impact on relations between the two countries. I take a step back and look at the people on both sides who have been brought together by this pain. I think of the events since 1915. And of course of Hrant Dink [the Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered in 2007]. I cannot forget his words: Who will write the prescription, who is our doctor? The Armenians are the doctors of the Turks, the Turks are the doctors of the Armenians. There is no other doctor, no other medicine, no other healer. Dialogue is the only prescription.”

Foreign policy expert Arkady Dubnov sees a chance to resolve the long-standing conflict. He comments on Facebook:

“[The meeting between the foreign ministers] demonstrates Ankara's and Yerevan's willingness to initiate a dialogue. The opening of the transport corridor after 30 years could be the key to finally ending the Turkish blockade of Armenia. All this is of course only possible in the context of a peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Here too, things are not pointing towards a new war – and let's hope it stays that way. … Moscow never tires of saying that peace in the South Caucasus can only be achieved with Russia's help and that any mediation by the West would be extremely harmful. But it would be interesting to see if they can sort things out themselves, without our participation.”

https://www.eurotopics.net/en/296685/earthquake-rapprochement-between-turkey-and-armenia 









Thousands of Russians who oppose the war in Ukraine have settled down in Armenia

Garnik Tadevosian
Feb 15 2023
5:01 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered

CHARLES MAYNES

Thousands of Russian exiles opposed to the war in Ukraine have taken up residence in Armenia, a former Soviet republic which offers Russians passport-free admission.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have left their country in opposition to the war in Ukraine. And with the conflict showing no end in sight, many are settling down in other countries for the long haul. NPR's Charles Maynes recently traveled to the southern Caucasus nation of Armenia to meet with some exiled Russians.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: In the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ivan Moshkin remembers arriving to his work at a Moscow bank and the shock that came next week.

IVAN MOSHKIN: (Through interpreter) All my male colleagues had already gone. The older people in the office said, are you an idiot? What are you still doing here? You're of military draft age. Get out now before mobilization begins.

MAYNES: With Moshkin short on money, the office pooled their cash to buy him a ticket out. That same evening, he was on his way to the airport and a new life in Armenia.

MOSHKIN: (Through interpreter) With little money and no work, I fell into a deep, deep depression.

MAYNES: For Russians who oppose the war, it's been a tough road. Repressive laws have made life dangerous at home, and growing numbers of countries are closing their doors to Russian immigration. Yet Armenia, once a Soviet republic, offers something of a refuge. Russians can travel here without a passport. Even Russian, the language, is widely spoken by locals. Moshkin, for one, says here, he's breathing easier.

MOSHKIN: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: He eventually found a job waiting tables in the capital, Yerevan. And with the war grinding on, he's now applying for his residency permit. And he's not the only one. At the Russian Svobodnaya Shkola, or Free School, in downtown Yerevan, a day of classes is winding down.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: (Shouting in non-English language).

MAYNES: Launched as a pop-up education program to accommodate a few dozen families who fled here last spring, the free school is another example of the increasingly entrenched Russian presence in Armenia.

ANNA CHEGOVAEVA: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: Free School's founder, Anna Chegovaeva, says the whole thing started on a dare. Her friends knew she was a good organizer. What she didn't expect was to be running a full-fledged school, now with more than 180 students. The school even offers Armenian-language night classes for Russian parents.

CHEGOVAEVA: (Through interpreter) Of course, I'd love for everything to suddenly change in Russia. And together, we'd all happily go home. Then there wouldn't be a need for the school. But we decided our school will exist as long as we are in this position.

MAYNES: In fact, it seems everywhere you look in Armenia, Russians are not only making do but settling down, opening businesses and getting involved in the community. Government figures show Armenia's GDP jumped 14% after the Russian influx.

IVAN DIVILKOVSKIY: I try to become useful to the Armenian society, to become integrated.

MAYNES: Ivan Divilkovskiy left Moscow fearing he could be arrested for his past participation in Russia's pro-democracy movement. He says he's now engaged in causes important to Armenia's future.

DIVILKOVSKIY: I don't know if I can become an Armenian in the narrow sense, but I am a part of the Russian immigrant circle. And we are doing our best to become a good long-term guest, a good roommate.

MAYNES: And Russians are integrating in other ways.

DANA VERGILYUSH: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: Dana Vergilyush is one of hundreds of Russian IT professionals who relocated to Yerevan, in her case from Southern Russia's Rostov-on-Don. Vergilyush says she arrived with her daughter, intent on finding people who share her progressive politics and passion for the environment. She's since launched a series of volunteer trash cleanups, much to her surprise, with buy-in and support from the Armenian authorities.

VERGILYUSH: (Through interpreter) In Russia, my activities were never welcomed or approved of by the government. Not once did anyone reach out to say, that's great what you are doing, or even just say thank you.

MAYNES: Yet gaining acceptance in Armenia comes with accepting that a return to Russia is unlikely.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: Last spring, Russian President Vladimir Putin demonized Russians who fled the country in the past year as scum and traitors. Even now, Russia's Parliament, the Duma, is debating measures that could strip property, perhaps even citizenship, from those expat Russians seen as openly disloyal.

DARINA MAYATSKAYA: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: "After a year of war, it will take fundamental changes inside Russia, even the end of the Putin era, to lure these political emigres back," says Darina Mayatskaya (ph), a native of St. Petersburg.

MAYATSKAYA: (Through interpreter) I'll go home when either they get rid of all these repressive laws or the authorities are so weak they can't enforce them. I see myself going back when I'm sure I can cross the border and I'm certain no one will arrest me.

MAYNES: Mayatskaya runs the local chapter of Kovcheg, or The Ark, a support group that provides assistance to Russians settling into life abroad and often leaving trouble behind.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: On the night I visited, The Ark was hosting a letter writing campaign to Russian political prisoners currently in jail over their opposition to the war. Ivan Lyubimov knew the routine better than most.

IVAN LYUBIMOV: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: Lyubimov says letters from people he'd never met comforted him when he was in jail for participating in opposition rallies in his native city of Yekaterinburg. In fact, Lyubimov says he left for Armenia only after authorities launched a criminal probe into his own anti-war activities, over which he has no regrets.

LYUBIMOV: (Through interpreter) The Russian government's policies won't change. The police won't behave any differently. The courts won't get any better. But it's still important and necessary to protest this war, to show that not all Russians support this aggressive annexation of Ukraine's territory.

MAYNES: As to what's next, Lyubimov says he'll stay in Armenia, at least for now. And with that, he started scribbling out a letter, a message intended for sender and recipient alike. It read…

LYUBIMOV: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: "Sooner or later, we might both find ourselves in a new free country, breathing the free air. Until then, hold on."

Charles Maynes, NPR News, Yerevan, Armenia.

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Listen to the 6-minute interview at https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1157279970/thousands-of-russians-who-oppose-the-war-in-ukraine-have-settled-down-in-armenia






Could the New EU Mission Sideline Russia in Armenia-Azerbaijan Settlement?

Tambiyan Samvel

Feb 16 2023

If the Europeans end up securing relative peace for Armenia and corroborate Azerbaijan’s border encroachments, it will be undeniable that Russia is not the only force Yerevan can rely on.
Kirill
Krivosheev

The international presence in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict zone is once again expanding, with an EU monitoring mission set to join Russian peacekeepers there. Since the Europeans were invited by Armenia, they will only be able to work on the Armenian side of the border: they won’t be permitted to enter Azerbaijan, including the Armenian-controlled part of the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region.

But following the hostilities of 2020, the internationally recognized Armenia-Azerbaijan border also deserves close attention. Several serious clashes resulting in numerous casualties have occurred there as Baku seeks to demonstrate what could be in store for Yerevan if Armenia doesn’t sign a peace agreement on Azerbaijan’s terms.

The EU mission scheduled to be deployed in the next month is modest in size and powers, consisting of just 100 unarmed monitors. That said, they are to stay for two years, which will likely prove decisive for the future of the region. The EU mission will be winding down in 2025, at about the same time the fate of the 2,000-strong Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh will be decided. 

Yerevan considers the EU involvement a major diplomatic victory, since if the situation at the border escalates again and Azerbaijan attacks internationally recognized Armenian territory, it will need an independent party to corroborate that.

Yerevan needs outside monitors because despite their alliance obligations to Armenia, Russia and the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have repeatedly refused to take on this role, taking a demonstratively neutral stance on the border conflict and refusing to confirm or deny the occupation of Armenian territory. 

At the same time, pro-government analysts in Azerbaijan make no bones about the real reasons behind these escalations: Baku needs them to force Yerevan to sign a peace agreement on Azerbaijan’s terms. The Azerbaijani authorities and public see nothing wrong with such tactics: after all, Armenia previously occupied far more of its enemy’s territory than Azerbaijan is doing right now.

In this context, cooperation with the EU is a rare opportunity for Yerevan to strengthen its positions. The first, almost symbolic European mission arrived in the conflict zone after the Armenia-Azerbaijan summit in Prague last October. More of a consolation prize for the Armenian side, it consisted of just forty monitors and lasted for two months.

Back then, Yerevan and Baku were discussing the possibility of formulating a peace agreement by the end of 2022, and the presence of European monitors was meant to give more confidence to the Armenians. But with no quick agreement in sight and the European monitors leaving in December that year, Yerevan began to worry that border skirmishes that left 197 troops dead last September might be repeated.

Despite Azerbaijan’s disagreement, Armenia managed to convince the EU to deploy another monitoring mission to the region, this time consisting of 100 monitors for two years. The Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor from Armenia to Karabakh that has been in place since the end of last year was likely an additional factor in Brussels’ decision. 

Turning two months of breathing space into two years is a considerable success for the Armenians. After all, it is Baku that is urging the signing of a peace agreement, while Yerevan has always tried to postpone any decision in the hope of getting better terms in the future.

While Moscow is losing Armenia’s trust through its unwillingness to pressure Azerbaijan, it makes sense for the European Union to increase its presence in the region. The new mission of 100 monitors is not the boldest move Brussels could make, but it’s sufficient to fuel pro-Western sentiment in Armenia. The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has openly called the mission “a new phase of EU engagement in the South Caucasus.”

Moscow’s reaction was predictable. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the EU of carrying out U.S. policy that “can only bring geopolitical confrontation and escalate existing disagreements in the region.” Moscow’s statement also contained a veiled threat that the Russian border troops deployed to the Armenian border since 1992 “will react to the behavior of the EU monitors considering the developments on the ground.”

In fact, Russian border troops had plenty of chances to react to the situation on the ground last September, but they chose not to. The Armenian Defense Ministry claims that a Russian border post was damaged in the shooting, and media published photos appearing to prove those claims, but the Russian authorities deny the allegations. 

Like Moscow, the EU cannot be completely unbiased in its dealings in the South Caucasus. The Europeans will keep in mind the volatility of their gas and oil markets following reduced shipments from Russia. If the need arises, Azerbaijan could supply the required volumes (in fact, it could even be Russian gas that Baku would resell, or Russian oil products refined in Azerbaijan: a scheme recently exempted from sanctions).

Nevertheless, the EU could become a more reliable advocate for Armenia, and not just out of humanitarian and legal considerations. The EU mission is yet another opportunity to sideline Moscow in the South Caucasus. At the end of last year, Russia and the West each put forward their own peace agreement proposal to the parties to the conflict. Armenia preferred the Russian draft, since it postponed the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh question, while Azerbaijan gravitated toward the West’s proposal. If the EU ends up securing relative peace for Armenia and corroborates Azerbaijan’s border encroachments, it will be undeniable that Russia is not the only force Yerevan can rely on.

Work on the peace agreement has now slowed. The Armenians believe—not without reason—that it would be imprudent to make such a critical decision while the world is preoccupied with Ukraine. The West and Russia may offer the South Caucasus something new once they free up their resources.

Armenia hopes that the world will be more predictable in two years’ time: that the Ukraine conflict may have deescalated, and that Turkey may have entered a period of greater stability, regardless of whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins the upcoming elections.

Of course, these hopes can hardly be described as a well thought-out strategy, but Armenia has long learned not to make far-reaching plans. In November and December, the presence of just forty European observers helped to reduce shooting and avoid the need to make new concessions. The chances are that that might just work again.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/89060

Asbarez: AGBU Arts Promises a Magical Concert Headlined by World Renowned Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian

Vanyan Gary
by Contributor

 

 

 

in Arts & Culture, Latest, Music, News, Top Stories

Isabel Bayrakdarian, Operatic Soprano


The curtains at Pasadena’s Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Performing Arts Center will rise at 8:00 p.m. on March 3 to welcome international opera luminary Isabel Bayrakarian to the AGBU Western Region.

The Grammy-winning Lebanese-born, Canada-raised Bayrakdarian will be singing beloved Armenian traditional and folk melodies, lullabies and prayers in an aptly titled concert called “Dream.” She will be accompanied by an ensemble of well known music masters in their own right, including Emanuel Hovannisyan (duduk), Jill Eilber (flute), and Ellie Choate (harp). Their performances will be set against panoramic visual interpretations created by the celebrated Syrian-Armenian painter Kevork Murad.

“This concert is truly unique,” states AGBU Arts Director Hayk Arsenyan. “It’s a rare opportunity for audiences of all ages and musical tastes to experience the intensity yet simplicity of the songs of our Armenian ancestors through a unique historical approach and the arrangements of an instrumental ensemble. It’s a fusion of two very different genres with a new multidisciplinary dimension added by Murad’s powerfully enchanting backdrops projected on the big screen,” Arsenyan added.

The event will be the first time that an A-List opera star graces the stage of the AGBU’s own performing arts center. Fortunately, the state-of-the-art facility was designed and equipped to do justice to performers at the top of their careers like Bayrakdarian.

Lobby/Reception area of the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Performing Arts Center

After she and her family immigrated to Canada, she began paving her own path to stardom, first winning in 2000 the Operalia International Opera Competition founded by Placido Domingo. This launched her meteoric rise, with appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, San Francisco Opera, Sante Fe Opera and the Canadian Opera Company among numerous other prestigious companies and world-class venues. In addition, Bayrakdarian is the recipient of the 2017 “Movses Khorenatsi” Medal—the Republic of Armenia’s highest cultural award. She was also presented with the 2017 “Komitas” Medal from Armenia’s Ministry of Diaspora. In 2015, Bayrakdarian was officially recognized by the California Legislature Assembly for her contributions to the entertainment industry and promoting peace and tolerance. She also received an Honorary Doctorate from Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.

“We are truly honored to welcome the incomparable Isabel Bayrakdarian and the esteemed musicians who arranged to take part in this extraordinary musical  event,” stated AGBU Western Region Executive Director Gohar Stambolyan. “This is a golden opportunity for our audiences to experience a brilliant performance at a world-class arts and culture venue right here in Pasadena.”

The facility’s stunning Main Stage Theater Auditorium offers many assets and amenities: Comfortable seating for as many as 600, a motorized orchestra pit, a smaller “black box” stage, even a multi-purpose banquet room, box office, spacious dressing rooms and more. For more information about PAC, visit the website.

Tickets for the concert are on sale now at $45 and $55. To purchase, scan this QR code or visit the website. CDs of the performers will be on sale at the concert and Isabel Bayrakdarian will be available for signing.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 02/16/2023

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Thursday, 


Squatters Evicted From Former Defense Ministry Building

        • Robert Zargarian

Armenia - Squatters evicted from the former Defense Ministry building outside 
Yerevan, .


The Armenian police made more than 20 arrests on Thursday as they evicted 
hundreds of squatters from the former building of the country’s Defense Ministry.

The building located about 15 kilometers west of Yerevan housed the ministry 
until 2005. More than 150 impoverished families moved to occupy its rooms in the 
following years.

The Armenian government decided last year to give the high-rise to its State 
Revenue Committee (SRC). The agency comprising the national tax and customs 
services is due to relocate there in 2027 after a large-scale reconstruction.

The occupants of the abandoned building received formal eviction orders last 
month. They refused to move out, saying that they are too poor to rent, let 
alone buy, homes elsewhere.

Hundreds of police officers scuffled with some squatters as they began the 
evictions early in the morning. A police spokesman said later in the day that 
more than two dozen people were detained as a result.

Armenia - Riot police guard the former Defense Ministry building cleared of 
squatters, .

“Who the hell are you?” one man shouted at the policemen. “Under what law? Tell 
us about that law.”

“They kicked the door open. It’s such an inhuman treatment,” said Paulina 
Petrosian, a middle-aged woman who has shared a room in the building with her 
daughter and two young grandchildren for the last four years.

The family previously lived in Gyumri. Petrosian said it left the city for 
economic reasons.

After being forced out of their rooms, the squatters gathered in the building’s 
courtyard with suitcases and other belongings, refusing to leave. They said they 
have nowhere to live.

“If they give us another place to live in, no problem, we’ll hand their 
privatized building back to them,” Petrosian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “If 
not, I will stay here with the other people.”

The Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs promised to provide the 
evicted people with temporary housing. The ministry said it is also considering 
fully or partly paying their rent.




Karabakh To Reopen Schools Despite Lack Of Gas Heating

        • Gayane Saribekian

Nagorno-Karabakh - An empty classroom in a school in Stepanakert, January 20, 
2023.


Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said on Thursday that they will likely fully 
reopen all local schools next week even if Azerbaijan continues to block 
Armenia’s natural gas supplies to the region cut off from the outside world.

Dozens of schools using natural gas for heating were shut down on February 7 
following a fresh disruption in the gas supplies carried out through 
Azerbaijani-controlled territory. About half of Karabakh’s 19,000 or so 
schoolchildren are enrolled in them.

Classes were not suspended for high school students because the authorities 
installed woodstoves in their classrooms. The other Karabakh schools are now 
fully heated by firewood.

Azerbaijan reportedly unblocked the flow of gas to Karabakh on Wednesday only to 
halt it again two hours later.

“We have wood-heated schools without a second shift,” said Hasmik Minasian, the 
Karabakh education minister. “In other schools we installed stoves for grades 
9-12. We will try to organize second shifts for the other students.”

“All schools will probably operate in the coming days,” Minasian told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service.

Karabakh schools had already been shut down for three times since Azerbaijani 
government-backed protesters blocked on December 12 the sole road connecting 
Karabakh to Armenia. They were most recently reopened on January 30 after a 
partial restoration of the gas supply.

Following the February 7 disruption, Karabakh’s leadership urged the 
international community to exert stronger pressure on Azerbaijan to end the 
blockade. It accused Baku of trying to create “unbearable” living conditions for 
the Karabakh Armenians so that they leave their homes.

Russia, the United States and the European Union have repeatedly urged 
Azerbaijan to reopen the Lachin corridor. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken 
telephoned Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for that purpose late last month. 
Aliyev again defended the Azerbaijanis blocking the corridor and demanding that 
Baku be given access to “illegal” copper mines in Karabakh.




Pashinian Hopeful About Armenian-Azeri Peace Treaty

        • Astghik Bedevian

Czech Republic - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani 
President Ilham Aliyev talk during an EU summit in Prague, October 6, 2022.


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday expressed hope that Armenia and 
Azerbaijan will finalize in the near future a bilateral peace treaty while again 
accusing Baku of trying to depopulate Nagorno-Karabakh through an ongoing 
transport blockade.

Pashinian said that Yerevan presented the Azerbaijani side on Wednesday with 
fresh proposals regarding the treaty. He did not disclose those proposals or 
give other details of the deal discussed by the two countries.

“Obviously, this document should be acceptable to Azerbaijan as well, and we 
hope that it will be possible to build on some progress observed as a result of 
three rounds of negotiations,” he said during a weekly session of his cabinet.

Azerbaijani leaders have said all along that the treaty must be based on key 
elements which it presented to Armenia in March 2022. Those include mutual 
recognition of each other’s territorial integrity. This would presumably mean 
Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.

Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, said earlier this 
week that the peace deal should make a reference to Karabakh. He said Yerevan is 
pressing for an “international mechanism” for direct negotiations between Baku 
and Stepanakert regarding the security and rights of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian 
population.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry deplored Grigorian’s comments on Wednesday, 
saying they show that Armenia has not abandoned territorial claims to 
Azerbaijan. A ministry spokesman ruled out any talks with the Karabakh Armenians 
whom he described as Azerbaijani citizens.

Nagorno-Karabakh - Empty shelves at a supermarket in Stepanakert, January 17, 
2023.

As well as reaffirming his declared commitment to the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
treaty, Pashinian condemned the continuing Azerbaijani blockade of the sole road 
connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. Baku has also been 
blocking Armenia’s supplies of electricity and natural gas to Karabakh, 
aggravating the humanitarian crisis there.

“Azerbaijan's actions have one goal: to complete the policy of ethnic cleansing 
of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh,” charged Pashinian.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov again defended Azerbaijani 
government-backed protesters blocking the road when he spoke with U.S. Assistant 
Secretary of State Karen Donfried by phone on Wednesday for the second time in a 
week. Bayramov said that the protesters’ demands for an end to “illegal” mining 
in Karabakh have still not been met.

The United States as well as the European Union, Russia and international human 
rights organizations have repeatedly called for an immediate reopening of the 
Lachin corridor.

Later on Thursday, Pashinian flew to Munich to attend an annual international 
security conference that will open in the German city on Friday.

Pashinian’s press office said he will hold “a number of bilateral meetings” with 
foreign leaders on the sidelines of the forum. The office declined to say 
whether Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is also scheduled to participate 
in the Munich Security Conference, will be among them.




Armenia Sees More Progress In Normalization Talks With Turkey

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Turkey/Armenia – The ruins of a medieval Armenian bridge on the Turkish-Armenian 
border, April 23, 2014.


Armenia and Turkey have agreed to speed up efforts to normalize their relations, 
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Thursday after his landmark visit to 
Ankara.

Mirzoyan met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu and also visited 
Adiyaman, one of the cities in southeastern Turkey ravaged by last week’s 
powerful earthquake. The Armenian government sent more humanitarian aid to its 
residents during his trip.

Mirzoyan said he and Cavusoglu reached “concrete understandings” on bilateral 
ties as he spoke during a weekly government meeting in Yerevan chaired by Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian.

“I can announce a decision to accelerate the process of dialogue and the process 
aimed at the ultimate opening of the [Turkish-Armenian] border,” he told fellow 
cabinet members.

Mirzoyan reiterated that the two sides plan to rebuild a medieval bridge over a 
river marking a section of the closed frontier. He also announced that they 
could open the border to citizens of third countries as well as holders of 
Turkish and Armenian diplomatic passports this summer.

Turkey - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Armenian Foreign Minister 
Ararat Mirzoyan meet in Ankara, .

Speaking at a joint news conference with Mirzoyan on Wednesday, Cavusoglu said 
the assistance provided by Armenia to victims of the devastating earthquake 
could facilitate the normalization process. But he appeared to link that process 
to the outcome of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.

Turkey has for decades made the opening of the border and the establishment of 
diplomatic relations with Armenia conditional on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace 
deal acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed this 
precondition since the start of the normalization talks with Yerevan in January 
2022.

Ankara briefly opened one of the border crossings on Saturday and Wednesday to 
receive two batches of Armenian humanitarian aid. According to Mirzoyan, it will 
also allow the 27 members of an Armenian search-and-rescue team, who flew to 
Adiyaman last week, to return home through the same border gate.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

CivilNet: Armenia-Turkey border could partially open by ‘tourist season,’ says Mirzoyan

Anna Tamamian
CIVILNET.AM

16 Feb, 2023 10:02

  • Armenia and Turkey aim to open their border to third-country citizens and diplomatic passport holders before the start of this year’s tourist season, according to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
  • The European Union civilian mission in Armenia will start its border monitoring work next week, with Germany announcing that German police officers will also take part.
  • The Armenian search and rescue team deployed to areas of southern Turkey devastated by last week’s earthquake have returned to Yerevan. A separate team deployed to Syria returned earlier this week.

Batch of fresh strawberries infected with a quarantine harmful object to Armenia

Alex Jidarian
Feb 16 2023

On February 4, 2023, the Office of the Rosselkhoznadzor for the city of Moscow, the Moscow and Tula regions at the phytosanitary control post located at the cargo terminal of Domodedovo-Cargo LLC during quarantine phytosanitary control, during the inspection of a batch of fresh strawberries, weighing 1.0 tons, (origin – Republic of Armenia), a quarantine object for the Russian Federation was identified – *Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande).

The presence of a quarantine object in a viable state was confirmed by a laboratory examination carried out by specialists of the All-Russian Center for Plant Quarantine (FGBU VNIIKR) subordinate to Rosselkhoznadzor.

In accordance with the phytosanitary legislation of the Russian Federation, the batch of contaminated regulated products was returned to the address of the consignor on the territory of the Republic of Armenia

Source: fsvps.gov.ru

"Disaster diplomacy" creates hope for Armenia-Turkey normalization

Greg Madatian
Feb 16 2023
Arshaluis Mgdesyan Feb 16, 2023
Building bridges (Armenian MFA)

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan was welcomed warmly in Ankara by his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on February 15.

The visit came shortly after Armenia sent humanitarian aid and rescue workers to its historical rival in a powerful gesture of goodwill following the deadly earthquakes that rocked southern Turkey on February 6.

At a joint news conference, Cavusoglu thanked Armenia for "extending a hand of friendship" in Turkey's time of need while Mirzoyan said that the sides had agreed to open their border to third-country nationals and diplomatic passport holders ahead of the 2023 tourist season.

That border has been closed since 1993 with the exception of the historic brief openings on February 11 and 14 to allow the delivery of quake relief.

After the briefing, Mirzoyan paid a visit to the 27 Armenian rescue workers deployed to the quake-hit city of Adiyaman.

Back in Yerevan on February 16, the top diplomat told a government meeting that those rescuers would return home through the land border on the same day.

He also reported to the cabinet that an agreement had been reached on the restoration of the historic Ani bridge on the Akhuryan (Arpacay) river which forms part of the two countries' border.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan welcomed the announcement as a "symbolic step" and said Armenia already had preliminary designs for the bridge's reconstruction.

Pashinyan also hit out at domestic critics of the decision to send quake relief.

"Millions of people in the neighborhood of our country need support and it is unacceptable for anyone to remain indifferent," he said.

That criticism, which included opposition groups' use of the familiar epithet "Turkophilia" towards the Pashinyan government, is borne out of powerful historical grievances.

Ankara refuses to recognize the World War I-era mass slaughter and deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as an act of genocide, and it has sided with fraternal Baku for decades in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey shut the border in 1993, just two years after Armenia gained independence, in solidarity with Azerbaijan amid the First Karabakh War.

But after Azerbaijan – with extensive Turkish help – retook large swathes of land from Armenian forces in the Second Karabakh War of 2020, Armenia and Turkey gingerly embarked on normalizing relations.

They appointed special envoys who met first in January 2022 and have occasionally achieved modest progress such as the restoration of direct cargo flights in January 2023.

Historian Nelli Minasyan believes Mirzoyan's visit gave the normalization process a nudge.

"Turkey already uses the term 'disaster diplomacy' in relation to Armenia and Greece, countries that Ankara has deeply problematic relations with. I think that the agreements reached in Ankara were not formulated spontaneously. Discussions on these issues have been going on for a long time, and the earthquake and the processes around it served as an occasion to voice them," she told Eurasianet.

But Ruben Safrastyan, a specialist in Turkey at Armenia’s National Academy, sees no reason to expect a major breakthrough.

"These statements have signaled that the process will move forward in small steps," he told Armenian Public TV after the foreign minister's visit. But, he warned, the recent catastrophe does not change the fact that Azerbaijan is wary of Armenia-Turkey normalization and possesses levers to stall it.

Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, hinted, during the briefing with his Armenian counterpart, at Ankara's close coordination with Baku.

"Advances in Armenia's dialogue with Turkey and Azerbaijan will contribute to stability in the region. If our three countries take sincere steps, we will be able to achieve long-term peace in the South Caucasus," Cavusoglu said.

Arshaluis Mgdesyan is a journalist based in Yerevan.

https://eurasianet.org/disaster-diplomacy-creates-hope-for-armenia-turkey-normalization

Krikorian Foundation Offering Scholarships for Students with Armenian Heritage

Tatoyan Vazgen
Feb 16 2023

The following information was provided by the Arisdine Krikorian Family Foundation:

The trustees of The Arisdine Krikorian Family Foundation, a section 501(c)(3) organization, launched its first annual scholarship award program. The Foundation was created by Rose and Sybil Krikorian, who were raised in Watertown and later moved to Belmont where they lived for many years. They were the daughters of Arisdine and Panos Krikorian, who were born and raised in Armenia. The last survivor of the Krikorian family, Rose, died in August 2021 at the age of 96.

The Krikorian family was deeply proud of their Armenian heritage and devoted to many local Armenian organizations. They were keenly interested in the educational advancement of Armenian children. That interest led them to create the Foundation in their name.

The Foundation will provide scholarships of up to $5,000 to high school seniors admitted to college, college and post-graduate students of Armenian descent residing in the Greater Boston area. The program is being administered by Scholarship of America, Inc. The trustees of the Foundation are Thomas F. Maffei, a Boston lawyer, Professor Renee Landers of Suffolk Law School and Professor Beth Hennessey, recently retired from Wellesley College.

For more information and application details visit:
https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/krikorian.

Deadline to apply is April 1, 2023