Category: 2023

AW: Rep. Schiff Leads Letter to Comptroller Hsu Demanding Accountability from Citibank for Discriminating Against Armenian Customers

Tambiyan Samvel
 Guest Contributor Diaspora 0

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—On December 11, Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) led a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of Currency’s Acting Comptroller Michael J. Hsu to demand answers and further accountability from Citibank for their recent discrimination against Armenian credit card customers.

“We write today regarding disturbing reports of Citigroup Inc. (Citi)’s discriminatory lending practices against Armenian Americans. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Citi deliberately targeted and denied Armenian American credit card applicants based on their surnames and city of residence over a six-year period. According to reports, from 2015 through 2021, Citi singled out credit card applicants with surnames that Citi employees associated with Armenian origin as well as applicants whose addresses were in or near Glendale, California, home to a large and vibrant Armenian community,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Citi is the fourth-largest bank by U.S. customer deposits, according to the Federal Reserve. As one of the largest banks in the nation, their institution plays a key role in determining which individuals and communities have access to economic opportunity. No American should fear that their access to financial services or financial stability will be impacted by their race, ethnicity, nation of origin, or any other protected trait, and it is our job to continue to dismantle the ongoing patterns of discrimination in the financial sector and across our broader society,” the lawmakers continued.

Finally, the lawmakers demanded answers to these key questions:

  1. Has the OCC launched its own investigation into this case and considered taking additional actions to hold Citi accountable?
  2. Have any other financial institutions engaged in similar discriminatory actions against the Armenian community or other ethnic communities?
  3. Do any of the employees responsible for participating in this discriminatory practice still hold employment with Citi, and what disciplinary actions have taken place?
  4. What actions has Citi taken to ensure this does not happen again?
  5. What additional regulatory tools are necessary to make sure this does not happen again at Citi or any other institution? 
  6. What proactive steps has or will OCC take to investigate this instance or similar instances of discrimination at other banking institutions under its jurisdiction?

Schiff’s 30th Congressional District, which includes the cities of Burbank and Glendale, is home to the largest Armenian diaspora outside of Armenia. He serves as Vice Chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus.

This letter was signed by Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorth (D-Ill.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Haley Stevens (D-Mich.).

The full letter text can be found HERE and below:

Acting Comptroller Michael J. Hsu
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
400 7th Street SW
Washington, DC 20219

Dear Acting Comptroller Hsu,

We write today regarding disturbing reports of Citigroup Inc. (Citi)’s discriminatory lending practices against Armenian Americans. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Citi deliberately targeted and denied Armenian American credit card applicants based on their surnames and city of residence over a six-year period. According to reports, from 2015 through 2021, Citi singled out credit card applicants with surnames that Citi employees associated with Armenian origin as well as applicants whose addresses were in or near Glendale, California, home to a large and vibrant Armenian community. Given the harm done to our constituency and the seriousness of these allegations, we request that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) investigate this lengthy and discriminatory lending practice at Citi and any other financial institutions that may have engaged in similar practices.

As detailed in CFPB findings, Citi allegedly targeted applicants in the state of California whose last names ended in “-ian” and “-yan”—common components of surnames of Armenian origin. Citi’s practices included applying extra scrutiny to, negatively assessing, and denying credit card applications and credit line increases to consumers they identified as Armenian American. Of the most alarming allegations, some of the employees in question referred to these applicants as “Armenian bad guys” or the “Southern California Armenian Mafia.”

According to the CFPB, over this timeframe, Citi employees lied to consumers about the basis of their credit denials, providing false reasons why applicants were denied. Furthermore, supervisors conspired to hide the discrimination by instructing employees not to discuss the discriminatory practices in writing or on recorded phone lines.

While disturbing in scope with nearly 600 consumers who were impacted, this revelation also repeats a toxic history of banks preventing equal and equitable access to credit, targeting and preventing specific communities from accessing credit and loans to purchase homes or build businesses. While the CFPB has ordered Citigroup to pay $24.5 million in fines and $1.4 million in direct restitution that will be given back to impacted consumers, we must make sure that there are sufficient regulatory tools in place that can prevent this kind of discrimination from happening again.

Citi is the fourth-largest bank by U.S. customer deposits, according to the Federal Reserve. As one of the largest banks in the nation, their institution plays a key role in determining which individuals and communities have access to economic opportunity. No American should fear that their access to financial services or financial stability will be impacted by their race, ethnicity, nation of origin, or any other protected trait, and it is our job to continue to dismantle the ongoing patterns of discrimination in the financial sector and across our broader society. Accordingly, we ask that you provide written answers to these questions. 

  1. Has the OCC launched its own investigation into this case and considered taking additional actions to hold Citi accountable?
  2.  Have any other financial institutions engaged in similar discriminatory actions against the Armenian community or other ethnic communities?
  3. Do any of the employees responsible for participating in this discriminatory practice still hold employment with Citi, and what disciplinary actions have taken place?
  4. What actions has Citi taken to ensure this does not happen again?
  5. What additional regulatory tools are necessary to make sure this does not happen again at Citi or any other institution? 
  6. What proactive steps has or will OCC take to investigate this instance or similar instances of discrimination at other banking institutions under its jurisdiction?

We urge your office to investigate this situation further, including any other institutions that engaged in similar behavior, to ensure they do not engage in further discriminatory practices, as well as ensure impacted communities receive their compensation.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your response and to working together to continue to take action to protect consumers.




AW: Mary Asatryan on finding her roots in Artsakh and seeking revenge through hope

Karapet Navasardian
 Talar Keoseyan Special Reports, Interviews 0

“Every piece of this place is Armenian. You will never build happiness on our blood, pain and tears. If I don’t come back, then my son will. If not my son, then my grandson will. Artsakh—this is the name of my revenge.” 

Mary Asatryan pasted this note on her fridge on September 27, 2023. Asatryan, the assistant to the Artsakh Ombudsman, left the message for the future Azerbaijani occupiers of her home. “A couple of days before the forced exodus, I had so many thoughts and feelings. Before leaving my home at 6 a.m., I delved deep into my heart and wrote that note. I had to see a light at the end of the tunnel to stay sane. I had to feel that we would return. My revenge could be hope. I don’t have the right to throw my arms up. I will fight till my last breath, and maybe I won’t see it, but my descendants will,” Asatryan told the Weekly.

Mary Asatryan in front of a sign welcoming visitors to a Free Artsakh

Asatryan’s roots are from Moush in historic Armenia. She spent her very first paycheck on a trip with her grandmother to her ancestral Moush. She was born in Armenia but grew up in Russia. Asatryan clearly remembers her trips to Armenia and Artsakh growing up and how she would anxiously wait for the summer so she could be in the homeland. She obtained two master’s degrees, one in Belgium and the other in Armenia.

Growing up in the diaspora, Asatrayan was afraid of losing the homeland and made a conscious effort on the path of repatriation. In 2020, Asatryan was in Moscow and remembers feeling survivor’s guilt while sleeping in a warm bed while her brothers and sisters faced a war in Artsakh. When the 2020 Artsakh War ended, Asatryan decided to move to Artsakh. Her family was very concerned since she did not know anyone there. Nevertheless, her family knew that moving to Artsakh was the right thing for her to do, as an Armenian. 

Artsakh was her heart’s calling. She wanted to personally experience the homeland and build her knowledge. She knew that Artsakh was in a constant state of war and that the war never ended, but she felt that it was her personal responsibility to assist however she could. “We have this naïve expectation that the world is going to help us, but we are the only formula,” Asatryan said.

Artsakh was her heart’s calling. She wanted to personally experience the homeland and build her knowledge. She knew that Artsakh was in a constant state of war and that the war never ended, but she felt that it was her personal responsibility to assist however she could. “We have this naïve expectation that the world is going to help us, but we are the only formula,” Asatryan said.

Asatryan applied to iGorts, a program that invites diaspora professionals to serve in the public sector in Armenia and Artsakh, and became the assistant to Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, moving to Artsakh in September 2022. While her contribution felt like a drop in the ocean, she had to do what she could. “If every Armenian did what they could in their sphere, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Asatryan said.

Shortly after Asatryan moved to Artsakh, Azerbaijan launched a brutal nine-month blockade on the region in December 2022, restricting all movement and trade between Artsakh and the outside world. Asatryan struggled with not seeing her family, living alone and enduring the blockade with immense deprivations. She documented her personal and professional experiences under blockade, sharing daily updates of the challenges on social media in hopes of raising awareness of the severely underreported crisis. “Our life was invisible, with no gas, no electricity, and I had to bring that reality to people. I felt like I was preaching to the choir, since most of my followers already knew about the blockade. But I had to document. I did the best to utilize my pivotal role,” Asatryan said.

While Asatrayan lived far from her family in Artsakh, she was never alone. “The story with the toothpaste: In one of my interviews I said that I no longer had toothpaste, and as there was nothing to be found in the shops of Stepanakert anymore due to the 10-month-long blockade, I was trying to find other solutions to organize my normal life. Apparently, someone watched that interview and decided to surprise me by bringing toothpaste and leaving it at the reception desk of our office with a small candy. I hadn’t had candy for ages! This is the way we survived during the blockade—helping each other, sharing everything we had left,” Asatryan said.

Toothpaste generosity

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a full-scale assault on Artsakh, with the aim to ethnically cleanse its Armenian population and conquer the region. That morning, Asatryan had come home for her lunch break. All of a sudden, there was an explosion. She saw people running down to the shelters and followed them since this was her first experience in a war. Her neighbors had already lived through four wars. 

People expected that Armenia would save Artsakh, and when reality hit that it wouldn’t be the case, the situation became even more painful. In their darkest times, the locals prayed and hoped that Armenia would come to their aid, but this ended in disappointment. In the final days in Artsakh before the forced exodus, there was intense fear that the local Armenian population would not be able to enter Armenia. 

After the attack, public officials were detained. and journalism was shut down. Asatryan continued to share information on her Instagram page. She believed she wouldn’t be able to post once Azerbaijan installed its own internet towers. 

Asatryan believes that Artsakh is not a territorial issue, but rather is deeply rooted in ethnic hatred and the desire to evict the Armenian nation. “We need to take them more seriously. We must be vigilant, because they are arrogant and daring, because they have impunity. We need to mobilize like we did before. We have the spirit, and nothing is impossible. They get away with their blatant aggression, because there is no punishment,” Asatryan said. “We can’t make peace with a side that doesn’t want our existence. The enemy didn’t change, because there was no punishment for 1915, for the Shushi Massacre of 1920, for the Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad pogroms. We can’t be naive about the enemy’s intent.”

Forced exodus

Over the week following Azerbaijan’s attack, over 100,000 people, virtually the entire Armenian population of Artsakh, fled to Armenia. Some residents, especially the elderly and people with physical or mental illnesses, could not leave Artsakh. There are no clear numbers as to how many Armenians are still in Artsakh, but Asatryan said a couple of dozen were brought to Armenia with the help of the international Committee of the Red Cross. 

Through its attack, Azerbaijan destroyed Artsakh’s infrastructure. Water was not safe to drink, and people could not maintain a normal life. Besides leaving, the only other option was slaughter. “People knew there would be no protection for the Armenians once Azerbaijan took over. Despite our love for the homeland, we knew that we had to save the people so that we could mobilize in the future,” Asatryan said.

Asatryan was one of the last people to leave Artsakh. She was isolated, the only person left in her apartment building, in a ghost town that was now Stepanakert. Asatryan did not want to see her city like that but faced conflicting feelings of not wanting to leave. She decided to stay alive to bring awareness, which built her resolve. “Every day that passed became harder to say goodbye. Our office was one of the last ones to leave, because we had to make sure that the Armenians who were forcibly displaced from the villages were able to get to Armenia,” she said.

Unbelievable pain

Asatryan believes she must carry the identity of the people of Artsakh, revive her community, preserve the Artsakh dialect, save its cuisine and make sure that the Artsakh Armenians do not leave Armenia. She vividly described Artsakh’s spirit as containing pure Armenian values and the best qualities of the Armenian people. She recalled the spirit of the people and their resolve never to forget their heroes like Vazgen Sarkisyan, Monte Melkonian and Dushman Vartan. 

“The melon story: A couple of days before the war of September 19, I was working late in the office, giving an interview on air. As our office had an open-door policy, and generally it was very safe in Artsakh, we never locked our doors. At some point, someone just walked into my room and left a melon on my desk. I couldn’t get distracted from the conversation, and I didn’t manage to see who that was. But then, I searched for that person and figured out it was a young mother, a local journalist, who followed my activities online and decided to thank me for my work this way. Back then, it was almost impossible to find any fruits or vegetables for sale, so she found two small melons for her child, and on her way home she saw that my light was on and I was still working in the office, decided to leave one of them for me, saying, ‘You are a child, too’,” Asatryan said.

Kindness of Artsakhtsis

Most villagers from Artsakh had never been to Armenia. Armenia was the safe haven, but the hopes of a good reception from the government were quickly snuffed. There was a very warm and caring reception from ordinary people and charity organizations that volunteered during the days of the exodus on the border of Armenia and Artsakh. Artsakh Armenians were surprised by this, because during the 10-month-long blockade and isolation, it seemed that nobody cared about them. 

However, people’s expectations vis-à-vis the government were not met. The Armenian government only gave some financial help. Psychological services were very limited. Preserving the communities and keeping the villagers together became a daunting task. Artsakh Armenians did not know if they were refugees or citizens. 

“My entire time in Artsakh, I never felt alone or abandoned because of the Artsakh people. I wish Armenians treated Artsakhtsis with the same hospitality and warmth that the Artsakh Armenians deserved. When the Artsakhtsis came to register at the refugee centers, the government was placing the forcibly displaced Armenians near the border villages. This was leading to more trauma, since there would be threats of war again. The forcibly displaced Artsakh people wanted to settle in safer places like Yerevan, but they couldn’t afford it. Half of the people didn’t accept the government’s offer,” Asatryan said.

“We shed so much blood, but justice will prevail, and we will be on the right path,” Asatryan said. “War is the other side of peace, but the price paid for peace has been the highest. We must analyze and reflect on our mistakes so that history doesn’t repeat itself. We have a moral duty to our ancestors and to our coming generations. They have a right to have a homeland.”

“I was in a national dance group called Tnjre. The dance group was named after an Artsakh historical tree. It was established in Shushi. We lost people in the 2020 war. Some left. We held classes during the blockade and danced at the Charles Aznavour hall in darkness, but we used dance as resistance. We even gave a performance at the end of May. Now, we are all in Armenia, but we are logistically so far apart from one another,” she continued.

Every family from Artsakh has lost at least one member. More than 20,000 people have perished over the course of four wars in Artsakh in the past 30 years. People have lost homes, lives and loved ones. They have rebuilt homes and livelihoods, but grief is still evident in every family. 

“Speaking, documenting, posting has unlocked thoughts and feelings and has had a therapeutic effect,” Asatryan said. “Artsakh is life and love, never pain. Even losing Artsakh doesn’t change this for me. My love for my homeland was more than anything else. I found my roots. The blockade showed me real values, friends, family and culture. I thought I was strong before in the comforts of the diaspora, where I lived with no deprivation and hadn’t experienced hardships. Artsakh is my happy place, and it’s been the place where I have been the happiest ever,” Asatryan said.

“We shed so much blood, but justice will prevail, and we will be on the right path,” Asatryan said. “War is the other side of peace, but the price paid for peace has been the highest. We must analyze and reflect on our mistakes so that history doesn’t repeat itself. We have a moral duty to our ancestors and to our coming generations. They have a right to have a homeland.”

Asatryan invoked three pillars: Armenia, Artsakh and the diaspora. She said, “One of the pillars is temporarily destroyed, and this should be seen as a threat to all Armenians. An existential threat means we are all threatened. The diaspora has a huge role to play, and the only thing that will save us is human capital. We have done it before, and we can do it again. Our future deserves effort. Our answers and solutions are in our roots.”

  •  Bio
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Talar Keoseyan is a mother, educator and writer. Talar’s books "Mom and Dad, Why Do I Need to Know My Armenian Heritage?", "Tigran’s Song and "Our Tigran" are available on Amazon. She has been an educator for 26 years and resides in Los Angeles, CA. She can be reached at .


https://armenianweekly.com/2023/12/13/mary-asatryan-on-finding-her-roots-in-artsakh-and-seeking-revenge-through-hope/?fbclid=IwAR1WoGRYELVy9gRVgW31KASPl9Wbioemhj-6PvakoJGyKWPnCncQkZ3jdtg

Armenia’s Oscar Submission Screened to Jam-Packed Theater at USC

George Mamian
 Guest Contributor Diaspora 0

LOS ANGELES—On December 5, the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, in collaboration with the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Variance Films, hosted a sold-out theatrical screening and panel discussion of Amerikatsi, Armenia’s official Oscar submission for Best International Film. 

Due to an overwhelmingly large turnout, the USC School of Cinematic Arts held an additional screening in another room to accommodate the overflow. 

The screening was followed by a discussion with Michael A. Goorjian, the film’s writer, director and lead actor, and Patrick Malkassian, producer, in conversation with Luis Moreno Ocampo, Founding Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Ted Braun, USC Joseph Campbell Endowed Chair in Cinematic Ethics, and Steve Swerdlow, Esq., USC Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights. Dr. Shushan Karapetian, Director of the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, introduced and moderated the discussion. 

USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies Director Dr. Shushan Karapetian introducing the film

In her opening remarks, Dr. Karapetian highlighted the “rare and beautiful opportunity of being witness to dialogue between such invested and powerful voices, who may never have appeared in the same environment together otherwise.” 

The panelists provided an insightful analysis of the film’s universal themes of hope and belonging and the importance of giving voice to Armenian narratives for a global audience. 

Amerikatsi tells the story of Charlie, an Armenian-American who moves to Soviet Armenia in 1948 in hopes of finding a connection to his roots but instead finds a country crushed under Stalin’s rule. After being unjustly imprisoned, Charlie falls into despair until he discovers that he can see into a nearby apartment from his cell window—the home of a prison guard, Tigran. As his life unexpectedly becomes entwined with the guard’s, he begins to see that the true spirit of his homeland is alive in its people. 

For Michael Goorjian, making this film was an exploration of his identity as a filmmaker and an Armenian-American who had a desire to create something not limited by the experience of Genocide. Goorjian stated that this “film did not have to be about an Armenian at all.” He first heard the story that inspired the film from a Ukrainian friend who knew a man that could see into an apartment building from his prison cell. 

“Whether you are Greek or Italian, the exploration of your identity is a shared experience,” said producer Patrick Malkassian. In response to Dr. Karapetian’s inquiry about narrative scarcity, Malkassian described the difficulty of making a film about a group of people whose stories and narratives are historically overlooked. 

Ray Stark Family Theatre at USC

Commenting on Goorjian’s nuanced portrayal of the moral dilemmas faced by all the characters, Professor Braun stated, “By allowing us to empathize not just with Charlie, but also with Tigran the prison guard who is equally a captive, you help us understand how impossible the conflicting moral imperatives are, and you do it in a way that allows us to feel the humanity within all of the people trapped in this system…The film humanizes the perpetrator; that is the only way out. Because if you demonize the perpetrator, you repeat the cycle.” 

Steve Swerdlow drew parallels to Charlie’s experience in a Stalin-era prison with that of prisoners currently held in Azerbaijan, including Armenians abducted from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and outspoken Azerbaijani journalists who are being tried for trumped-up charges in kangaroo courts. 

Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was the first to blow the whistle about Aliyev’s authoritarian regime committing genocide in Artsakh, emphasized the need to engage a wider audience in the fight for prisoners in Azerbaijan, stating: “We need to talk about Armenia. If we talk about genocide our audience is small, but if we talk about this movie and the Oscar, the audience will be much bigger, and then we can talk about rescuing the 55 prisoners in Azerbaijan. You cannot go to Azerbaijan to rescue them, but you can support this film’s Oscar nomination. Your movie, Michael, is giving us an opportunity, because as I’ve learned, the more massive the demand, the easier it is to solve the problem.” 

L to R Dr. Shushan Karapetian, Patrick Malkassian, Michael A. Goorjian, Luis Moreno Ocampo, Ted Braun, Steve Swerdlow

“Responding as an artist, in a time like this with something that can reach people, is in many ways the most profound and important thing that you can do,” Braun said about the exodus from Artsakh and artistic response. 

The overflowing theater and engaged audience are proof of the film’s unique ability to reach across borders and boundaries, surpass language barriers, and deliver a human story of resilience and capacity for hope. 

“Film has the power to transform how we look at people, things, events, places and historical narratives we have taken for granted. It has the power to shape global perceptions and actions. The Institute is committed to bringing essential and pressing conversations to audiences in Los Angeles and beyond,” stated Dr. Karapetian. 

Established in 2005, the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies supports multidisciplinary scholarship to re-define, explore and study the complex issues that make up the contemporary Armenian experience—from post-Genocide to the developing Republic of Armenia to the evolving Diaspora. The Institute encourages research, publications and public service, and promotes links among the global academic and Armenian communities.




RFE/RL Armenian Service – 12/14/2023

George Mamian 
                                        Thursday, 


Leaving Russian-Led Blocs ‘Not In Armenia’s Interests,’ Says Putin


Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his year-end press conference at Gostiny 
Dvor exhibition hall in central Moscow on .


Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that Armenia is not 
planning to leave Russian-led military and economic blocs despite boycotting 
recent high-level meetings of their member states.

Putin also again blamed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government for the 
recent Azerbaijani takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh and the exodus of its ethnic 
Armenian population.

“I don’t think that it is in Armenia’s interests to end its membership in the 
[Commonwealth of Independent States,] the [Eurasian Economic Union,] and the 
[Collective Security Treaty Organization,]” he told a year-end news conference 
in Moscow. “Ultimately, this is still the choice of the state.”

“As for the absence of the prime minister of Armenia [Nikol Pashinian] from 
common events, we know that this is due to some processes in Armenia and is not 
related to a desire or unwillingness to continue working in these integration 
associations. We'll see how the situation develops,”

Those processes are “connected with Karabakh,” Putin said, referring to 
Azerbaijan’s September 19-20 military offensive in the region launched despite 
the presence of Russian peacekeeping forces there.

“But it’s not we who abandoned Karabakh,” he went on. “It’s Armenia that 
recognized Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan. They did so purposefully and did 
not quite inform us that they are about to make such a decision.”

Putin already claimed earlier that the Russian peacekeepers could not have 
thwarted the Azerbaijani assault because Pashinian had downgraded their mandate 
by recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh during Western-mediated 
negotiations.

Armenian leaders have faulted the Russians for their failure to prevent, stop or 
even condemn the Azerbaijani military operation despite the 2020 ceasefire 
brokered by Putin.

The resulting mass exodus of Karabakh’s ethnic population added to unprecedented 
tensions between Moscow and Yerevan. Pashinian and other senior Armenian 
officials have since attended no meetings of their counterparts from other 
ex-Soviet states making up the CSTO, the EEU and the CIS, raising more questions 
about Armenia’s continued membership in those organizations. They have sought 
instead closer relations with the United States and the European Union.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly accused Pashinian of systematically 
“destroying” Russian-Armenian relations. Last week, it rebuked Yerevan for 
ignoring its recent offers to organize more Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks and 
warned that Pashinian’s current preference of Western mediation may spell more 
trouble for the Armenian people.




No Agreement Yet On Armenia-Azerbaijan Talks In Washington (UPDATED)

        • Astghik Bedevian

U.S. - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosts Armenian Foreign Minister 
Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov for talks in 
Arlington, Virginia, June 29, 2023.


Official Baku and Yerevan denied on Thursday an Armenian official’s claim that 
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has agreed to meet with his 
Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Washington next month.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been scheduled to host the talks on 
November 20. However, Baku cancelled them in protest against what it called 
pro-Armenian statements made by James O’Brien, the U.S. assistant secretary of 
state for Europe and Eurasia.

O’Brien met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Bayramov in Baku last 
week. He said he told them that Blinken “looks forward to hosting foreign 
ministers Bayramov and Mirzoyan in Washington soon.”

“Azerbaijan has accepted the U.S. offer to hold a meeting of the foreign 
ministers there in January,” Edmon Marukian, an Armenian ambassador-at-large, 
told state television late on Wednesday. He said he hopes that Mirzoyan and 
Bayramov will finalize an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry effectively refuted Marukian’s announcement. “If 
there is an agreement to meet, we make it public,” a ministry spokeswoman told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Baku insisted, meanwhile, that the two sides have still not agreed on a date and 
venue of the next meeting between their foreign ministers.

Speaking at a daily news briefing on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department 
spokesman, Matthew Miller, declined to clarify when the ministers might meet 
with Blinken in Washington.

“Stay tuned,” he told reporters. “I’m not going to make an announcement on that 
from here today.”

Miller also said: “We will continue to work with Armenia and Azerbaijan to move 
the process forward. We continue to believe that peace is possible if both 
parties are willing to pursue it.”




Armenia Reaffirms Readiness For Transport Links With Azerbaijan

        • Nane Sahakian
        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during the Ministerial Meeting 
of the Landlocked Developing Countries held in Yerevan, .


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday reaffirmed Armenia’s readiness to 
establish transport links with neighboring Azerbaijan and Turkey while insisting 
that all railways and roads passing through Armenian territory must be under 
Yerevan’s full control.

“The Republic of Armenia expresses its willingness to create and restore railway 
communication between Azerbaijan and Armenia, notably through the previously 
existing railways,” Pashinian told the annual UN-sponsored Ministerial Meeting 
of the Landlocked Developing Countries held in Yerevan.

“The first is the northern route which connects the Gazakh district of 
Azerbaijan with the Tavush region of Armenia, and the second is the southern 
route which, among others, also connects the western regions of Azerbaijan with 
the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan,” he said.

He said Armenia is also ready to provide three highways for passenger and cargo 
traffic between the exclave and the rest of Azerbaijan.

“In addition, we show the same readiness in terms of opening the Armenia-Turkey 
railway, reconstructing and reopening the two previously existing Armenia-Turkey 
roads,” Pashinian added during the conference attended by a senior Turkish 
Foreign Ministry official but shunned by Baku.

The Armenian leader went on to reiterate his government’s position that all 
regional transit routes “must operate under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of 
the countries through which they pass.” This means that people and goods passing 
through them cannot be exempt from border controls, he said, clearly alluding to 
Azerbaijani demands for an extraterritorial corridor to Nakhichevan.

The so-called “Zangezur corridor” would pass through Syunik, Armenia’s only 
province bordering Iran. Tehran strongly opposes it, having repeatedly warned 
against attempts to strip the Islamic Republic of the common border and 
transport links with Armenia.

A senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in October that the 
corridor “has lost its attractiveness for us” and that Baku is now planning to 
“do this with Iran instead.” Earlier in October, Azerbaijani and Iranian 
officials broke ground on a new road that will connect Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan 
through Iran.

The European Union’s top official, Charles Michel, noted earlier this week that 
Baku and Yerevan continue to disagree on practical modalities of mutual 
transport links that would be part of a broader Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal.

“President Aliyev made it very clear many times that he doesn't have any 
territorial claim [to Armenia,]” Michel told RFE/RL. “But there is a debate on 
the concrete modalities to make sure that those modalities will respect the 
sovereignty and the jurisdiction of Armenia.”

Armen Khachatrian, a senior lawmaker from Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, 
praised Michel’s remarks on Thursday. He suggested that Baku has not given up on 
the “Zangezur corridor.”

“Baku has pursued that goal for many years, long before the 2020 war,” 
Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “It’s just that their desire 
sometimes becomes more acute and is sometimes suppressed until a more opportune 
moment. Right now they are not talking about that and are even saying that if 
Armenia doesn’t want to open that road it will pass through Iran.”




Russian Firm Contracted For Another Upgrade Of Armenian Nuclear Plant


Armenia - A general view of the Metsamor nuclear plant, 12May2011.


The Armenian government will pay a Russian company up to $65 million to 
modernize the Metsamor nuclear power and extend the life of its sole operating 
reactor until 2036.

The funding will take the form of a “budgetary loan” to be provided to the 
state-owned plant’s management. The latter will sign a relevant contract with 
Rusatom Service, which is part of Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear agency.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s cabinet formally approved the contract during a 
weekly session held on Thursday. It said Rusatom Service will carry out the 
upgrade of Metsamor from 2023-2026 in close coordination with Armenian nuclear 
energy specialists.

The Metsamor reactor, which generates roughly 40 percent of Armenia’s 
electricity, went into service in 1980 and was due to be decommissioned by 2017. 
Armenia’s former government decided to extend the 420-megawatt reactor’s life by 
ten years after failing to attract funding for the construction of a new and 
safer nuclear facility.

Russian and Armenian specialists essentially completed Metsamor’s first major 
modernization in 2021. Armenian officials have since repeatedly said that the 
Soviet-era facility, located 35 kilometers west of Yerevan, can safely operate 
until 2036.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, 
praised those safety upgrades monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog when he 
visited Armenia and inspected Metsamor in October 2022.



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.

Yerevan warns of ‘ticking time bomb’ as Nagorno-Karabakh government-in-exile debate rages

Yeghisabet Arthur
Dec 14 2023
 

ByArshaluys Barseghyan
The office of the Representation of Artsakh in Armenia. Photo via Facebook.

A row between the Armenian Government and former officials from Nagorno-Karabakh is continuing over attempts to form a government-in-exile out of Yerevan.

On Monday, the leader of Ardarutyun,  a political party from Nagorno-Karabakh, told RFE/RL that anyone who opposed the continued functioning of Nagorno-Karabakh’s state institutions supported the ‘destruction of Artsakh’s [Nagorno-Karabakh’s]  statehood.’

Similarly, in a thinly veiled attack on the Armenian Government last week, a group of former MPs from Nagorno-Karabakh decried the ‘intensity of steps’ being taken and the ‘aggressive behaviour’ of ‘parties interested in the final closure of the Artsakh issue.’

The MPs made the statement following a visit to the Yerablur Military Cemetery in Yerevan on the anniversary of the disputed 1991 independence referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian officials have grown increasingly hostile to the idea of proposals to form a government-in-exile, warning it could be used by Azerbaijan as a pretext to take military action against Armenia.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the ‘inevitability’ of Nagorno-Karabakh’s dissolution due to the negotiation status his government inherited after coming to power in 2018. And on Monday, in response to the statement by former MPs from Nagorno-Karabakh, the deputy chair of the ruling Civil Contract Party, Gevorg Papoyan, accused them of posing a direct threat to Armenia’s security.

‘They signed a capitulation agreement, disbanded the Nagorno-Karabakh army, handed over weapons to Azerbaijan, dissolved the Nagorno-Karabakh National Assembly and came to Armenia — now they want to hold a parliamentary session here?’

‘Is this a ticking time bomb in Armenia?’, asked Papoyan.

After Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno-Karabakh in September, forcing the government’s surrender, President Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree to dissolve the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and all of its state institutions.

Earlier in November, Papoyan had stressed that Armenia could not allocate funds to Nagorno-Karabakh’s state institutions.

‘We should not do such things that would give the other side an opportunity to challenge the territorial integrity of Armenia and torpedo the peace process’, he stated.

Other officials in Armenia have voiced similar sentiments.

In mid-November, the speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan, said that establishing a government in exile would be a ‘direct threat and a blow to Armenia’s security’.

And in late November, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan said that the establishment of a Nagorno-Karabakh government in exile was unnecessary.

‘There is a Republic of Armenia, whose institutions are functioning. What function should they [Nagorno-Karabakh] perform? Armenia protects the rights of Artsakh Armenians’, Khachaturyan told reporters.

However, since fleeing the Azerbaijani takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in September, many officials have insisted that they continue to represent the region’s former ethnic-Armenian population.

In late October, Nagorno-Karabakh’s last president, Samvel Shahramanyan, disowned the surrender document dissolving Nagorno-Karabakh, stating that a ‘republic created by the people cannot be dissolved by any document’.  

A few days later, Shahramanyan and a group of former Nagorno-Karabakh officials gathered in Yerevan to discuss ‘preserving the statehood’ of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The meeting was organised by the Committee for the Preservation of Artsakh Statehood, founded by Suren Petrosyan, an Armenian opposition figure.

Petrosyan dismissed concerns that a government in exile based in Armenia could put the country at risk of an Azerbaijani attack because the Armenian government would not be involved in a Nagorno-Karabakh administration.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

https://oc-media.org/yerevan-warns-of-ticking-time-bomb-as-nagorno-karabakh-government-in-exile-debate-rages/

Balance of power in South Caucasus still shifting after Karabakh collapse

Shushan Frangulian
Dec 14 2023
By Zachary Weiss in Tbilisi 

Azerbaijan’s September 2023 offensive into Nagono-Karabakh only lasted two days, but the repercussions of the conflict have shifted the balance of power in the South Caucasus. Armenia and Azerbaijan have different military equipment, regional territory, and international relationships since the offensive began that will shape the future of the conflict. Some experts predict that more war could now follow.

Leonid Nersisyan, a defence and political analyst at the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia, called Armenia’s reduced military means following the conflict “a painful loss,” that could have significant implications for a future conflict. 

“After the Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces were disbanded, all the equipment they had was handed either to Azerbaijani troops or to Russian peacekeepers.” He continued: “Equipment wise, that’s a big loss because there were several dozen tanks and artillery pieces and some air defence assets, too. The personnel in general are withdrawn to Armenia, except a few commanders who were arrested by Azerbaijanis and taken to Baku.”

In the short Azerbaijani offensive, Armenia lost hundreds of fighters, four tanks, numerous armoured fighting vehicles, 29 towed artillery, four command posts and stations, and more anti-aircraft guns and missiles, according to Oryx, a defence analysis site. For a small nation that relies on military equipment shipments that have been crucial for its defence, the loss of fighters and equipment is significant. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, had minimal equipment losses, losing one tank and one truck.

The Artsakh Defence Army used to function as a buffer between Azerbaijan and Armenia proper, which Nersisyan noted was important for Armenia’s defence. The army was disbanded following Azerbaijan’s takeover of Karabakh, a condition set by Azerbaijan for the war to end.

“There is no Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army, so that equipment withdrawn to Armenia would have even boosted up the capacity to defend Armenia’s proper territory.” Instead, the forces gave up their weapons to Russian peacekeepers, as the peace agreement outlined.

Not only did Azerbaijan’s military reduce the power and territory of Armenia, but it is also in a stronger position to attack Armenia again, according to Nersisyan. He noted, “They don't have any enemy in their rear anymore.” Now, Azerbaijan can build military bases and position equipment in Karabakh territory.

Changing partners

Azerbaijan and Armenia’s international partnerships could also shift Armenia’s ability to defend itself and the viability of a future Azerbaijani attack, to varying degrees. Nersisyan predicted that the roles of several foreign nations serving as arms exporters and consultants to Azerbaijan would not change, but Armenia’s international relations related to its own defence has already shifted more drastically. 

Nersisyan noted that Armenia had received the vast majority of its arms from Russia after several defence contracts were signed in the years before the 2023 conflict, but Russia was not adhering to its own agreement – due to its own military constraints in Ukraine. In November 2023, Pashinyan publicly accused Russia of keeping weapons that Armenia had already paid for, and said that relying on Russia as a defensive partner had been a mistake.

Azerbaijan, on the other hand, receives arms exports and consulting from Israel and Turkey, which is unlikely to change as a result of the September conflict and its aftermath. Israel sold Azerbaijan Barak-8 surface-to-air missile systems, which were tested just a month before Azerbaijan’s offensive into Karabakh. In early December, Azerbaijan purchased the Barak MX air defence system, which is capable of launching missiles 35, 70, and 150 kilometres. It was a continuation of Israeli arms sales of Barak weapons to Azerbaijan, which began in 2012 with a $1.6 billion contract that included the sale of Barak-8 missiles in 2016. 

Armenia is also preparing its military for more conflict. According to Nersisyan, Armenia is now looking to India as “the biggest Armenian partner in defence” in light of Russia’s absence. In November, it was reported that the Indian company Indian Munitions Limited would supply 150,000 grenade units to Armenia. India also plans to supply Armenia with 90 advanced towed artillery gun howitzers over the next three years as part of a $155.5 agreement, six of which were already sent.

Second is France, a newer partner, which has already begun its shipments of armoured vehicles and radar technology. Nersisyan also noted that the European Union could provide Armenia with non-lethal military aid. Josip Borrel, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, noted in November that the European Union must “be very much vigilant for any attempts of destabilisation of Armenia, internally and externally”. The European Union’s Council of Foreign Ministers agreed to consider supplying Armenia with military aid as a part of its military assistance programme. Although Armenia has previously been denied military assistance from the European Union, Azerbaijan’s attack has highlighted the necessity of better Armenian defence.

While both Azerbaijan and Armenia replenish and improve military armaments for future conflict, Nersisyan believes that conflict could realistically spike again, most likely on a small scale that would only last a few days. He believes Azerbaijan could start another conflict to push Armenia to make arms concessions, which would be unlikely to trigger as wide an international response as the September conflict.

Azerbaijan could also use its superior military positioning to push for control of the road connecting Azerbaijan to its exclave territory, wanting access without customs checks and with Russian troops guarding it. Lastly, Azerbaijan could restart their attacks to regain old Soviet Azerbaijani enclaves within Armenian territory.

More optimistically, Nersisyan says a large-scale attack similar in scale to Azerbaijan’s September 2023 offensive was possible but unlikely.

Sports: Armenia’s Hripsime Khurshudyan wins gold at IWF Grand Prix

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia – Dec 14 2023

Hripsime Khurshudyan of Armenia has captured a gold medal at the IWF Grand Prix II in Doha, Qatar

The athlete lifted a total of 232kg (106kg in snatch and 126kg in clean and jerk) to win the gold medal in the women’s 87kg weight category on Wednesday.

The 87kg bronze went to Tatev Hakobyan who lifted 230kg (107kg in snatch and 123kg in clean and jerk).

Armenia's Aleksandra Grigoryan earned a bronze medal at the IWF Grand Prix earlier last week.

The IWF Grand Prix II Weightlifting 2023, a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier, is being held in Doha from December 4 to 14.

Priest: ‘Artsakh children love life and their homeland more’

Yeghisabet Arthur
Panorama
Armenia – Dec 14 2023

Children displaced from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) ask Santa Claus for toys, stationery, smartphones and, of course, peace. Not only children, but also adults dream about it, as peace has been the most cherished dream for several decades now because of Azerbaijan.

The Artsakh Operational Headquarters in Yerevan on Thursday hosted a New Year festivity featuring students of the Hadrut Children and Youth Creative Center. The event brought together 100 children. On December 15 and 17, a New Year celebration will be organized for 200 more children.

Ira Tamrazyan, head of the Hadrut Children and Youth Creative Center, told Panorama.am that before their forced exile from Artsakh triggered by Azerbaijan’s attack in mid-September, their sponsor, Canadian-Armenian Ardem Tutunjian, had offered to organize a celebration for 100 children on the eve of the New Year.

"But now we are all in Armenia. Our friend Ardem decided to organize an event for 300 children instead of 100," Tamrazyan said.

For children aged 1 to 12 today was really a holiday: a clown, games, Santa Claus… What else do children need to have fun?

Father Mesrop Mkrtchyan, a clergyman of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, noted in his turn that they had suffered many ordeals, sometimes losing hope.

"But today, at this hall, we can rejoice together with our children at the coming of the New Year. Our children should not experience distress, they are no different from children living in other parts of the world. They may even be more charming and beautiful. Our children have greater love for life, for the homeland," he said.

Pashinyan: Armenia ready to restore railway link with Azerbaijan

Hovik Karapetian
Panorama
Armenia – Dec 14 2023

Armenia is ready to restore the railway communication with Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday.

“The first is the northern route, which connects Azerbaijan’s Kazakh region with Armenia’s Tavush Province. The second is the southern route linking the western regions of Azerbaijan to the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic," Pashinyan said, addressing the ministerial meeting of the Landlocked Developing Countries held in Yerevan.

"We believe that Azerbaijan's western regions can be connected with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic and the outside world also through the northern route,” he added. 

The premier said that highways can have northern, middle and southern routes, which will open up new opportunities for the region.